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Report: Hamburg set to offer Wood new contract as teams eye release clause

Bobby Wood is, understandably, a wanted man, and his current club is looking to lock up the forward’s future despite the interest from outside parties.

Hamburg sporting director Jens Todt told Bild that there have been no formal or concrete offers for Wood quite yet, but the club is looking to get ahead of the game. Todt says the player and club could enter contract talks soon, less than one year after Wood joined the club on a four-year deal.

Wood, who recently joined up with one of Germany’s biggest sports agencies, Sports Total, reportedly has a €10 million release clause in his contract that could be met as soon as this summer. The forward has been linked with a move to England in recent weeks.

“His move to Hamburg was good for us, but it was also the perfect step for Bobby,” Todt said. “I imagine he appreciates how things are going for him right now.

“I’m always open to prolonging contracts with players who consistently perform ahead of time. “That applies to any case — not just for Bobby.”

Wood is currently in spectacular form for the club, having scored four goals in the past 10 games.

 

Comments

  1. For me all this is proof that Hamburg actually want to sell Wood and cash in on him. They are constantly talking to the press about how Wood is in demand (while admitting in the same breath that there have been no offers yet) and floating in the media that they are considering re-upping his contract (in other words you better come after him now before we give him that new contract). I’m sure they really like Wood but now a days Hamburg is a selling club and they want the money more than Wood. Expect Wood to move this summer if there is actually a lot of interest in him.

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    • yeah, that’s how i’m reading it too. i think there would absolutely be another bundesliga club willing to pick him up if hamburg gets relegated–bobby’s proved he’s good enough–but i really don’t see them spending 10mil on him, unless maybe he can manage to keep up his recent scoring rate through the end of the season.

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  2. It’s always funny when the player is in demand, then all of a sudden the club wants to ink a new contract. It wasn’t that long ago when Bobby was hung out to dry by his manager when he got the red card. I thought the manager should have supported Bobby because the red was incredibly soft. He might have got it rescinded if they’d protested it.

    If Bobby gets a good offer to move up in competition, I hope he does.

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      • Nothing to do with “vindictiveness”, it’s an indication that the club didn’t support him when they could have, so there’s no reason to show any special loyalty to the club that now wants to cash in. As I said, if he gets a good offer, and by that I mean a better situation, then by all means he should move up. He needs to go somewhere he can get service from the midfield. Right now, all of his goals are the highlight reel kind because he has to make something out of nothing.

  3. I would wait to make a decision. Because Hamburg needs help in the midfield. They are not very good. Holtby is just average. Gregoritsch(or however you spell it) is a turnover machine. The rest are none descript. If they add pieces in the middle of the park where he can get some service than yeah stay. I would prefer he stay away from England.

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  4. If he’s smart he’ll sign with MLS where he can be the big dog and win important things such as the MLS Supportes Shield Playoff Chamionship ™ All this without even giving it his full effort or risking his position as an every game starter.

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  5. This is why I hate the Euro move for American players. Is there better situation/story out there for Americans in Europe other than the stud Pulisic? No, he was the man an Union Berlin, rewarded by being sold to the Bundesliga, now he is the man there.

    So of course Hamburg will move him then. For money.

    Next stop Hull City.

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    • Would you prefer he stay here and only get a little better? Come on. Sometimes your stuff makes no sense. That is why, many times, I skip over you posts and don’t even bother to read them.
      But I wasted my time reading and responding. Shame on me.

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      • So tell me how this is so great.

        I realize ripping on someone is easy response. You are wasting your breath if you are trying to get to me, but other posters will eat it up, so type accordingly.

        Instead, tell me how this works out. We have seen it work out exactly how I outlined many times before, then we blame the American. Not good enough, which really means that any situation that is working out well enough ends up in his team valuing money. So if he has value he moves, if he doesn’t the team looks for someone that might NO MATTER THE REASON……and chances are the next situation isn’t good.

        It really boils down to guys like you not liking MLS, not wanting American players to play there and just being excited for any news like one of “our guys” made it to Sunderland.

        I agree with Whammm. It is business, but it is less business in MLS. For one big reason….every team is trying to win, which 100% is NOT true in Europe where almost all are just trying to make money.

      • Quit, you made some BROAD and INCORRECT claims here. Although, I do agree with the constant movement of players isn’t always the best for players, but I am not totally against it. This is because I look at professional athletes as contractors with a fixed amount of time the get the most their talents.

        “It really boils down to guys like you not liking MLS, not wanting American players to play there and just being excited for any news like one of “our guys” made it to Sunderland.”
        -> That is completely off. I want and have supported MLS since its inception. I love it, but I want our best players PLAYING at the highest level they can while earning the most money they can in the short lifespan. That is not MLS unless they overpay. Sorry, playing for a mid to top end top 5 league is better than MLS. I don’t like Sunderland because they are poorly run. Mid table teams are generally well run and generally play for European Spots or Cup titles (not league titles). Top end top-5 teams, it’s no brainer… even for you.

        I agree with Whammm. It is business, but it is less business in MLS. For one big reason….every team is trying to win, which 100% is NOT true in Europe where almost all are just trying to make money.
        -> MLS is still a business. It is less a business in terms of movement because teams don’t through stupid money to MLS teams because they consider them untested. As it becomes more established in Euro eyes, it will change. If Jordan Morris wants to move and want to through 25 million at Seattle (not stupid), don’t you think they would take it?

      • QWAS,

        Euro moves for American players are absolutely better for Americans than staying in the MLS. Our players need to be playing against the best competition in the world to be the best. This is a no brainer. I’ll put this in slightly different terms. Scoring goals in a rec league is different from scoring goals for an academy team. Why? Because the level of competition is different. There is no denying that the top 5 leagues in Europe and even some of the lesser leagues are better than MLS. What good is it to have Bobby Wood tear it up against MLS defenses that have, at most, one or two players that play on CONCACAF national teams when he could be playing each season against much higher competition.

        You say that the next situation once a player is sold is likely not good. Look at Yedlin. Loaned out immediately at Tottenahm, struggled to get minutes with Sunderland, and now he is one of Newcastle’s most consistent players. The move to Tottenham was miles better for him than staying at Seattle to win an MLS cup – with a team who failed to register a shot on goal during that game. Do you really believe Yedlin would be the same player that he is now had he stayed at Seattle?

        Julian green is now getting minutes with Stuttgart who will be promoted to the BL next year. He will playing at a much higher level than he would in the MLS. Zelalem is likely to be with Gladbach next year. EMERSON HYNDMAN – he wasn’t getting any playing time at Bournemouth and they loaned him out to Rangers. Now, he is tearing it up. This will absolutely boost his stock with Bournemouth. That move was GREAT for him. You can’t just state a conclusion without providing any evidence. A lesson our current President should learn.

        I’ll leave it at this. I could keep going. But I really don’t understand how you truly believe American players staying in the MLS is best for the USMNT. Sure, there are downsides to moving to Europe. There are downsides to everything. But the benefits of moving to Europe outweigh those downsides.

    • It’s like the light bulb just went on and QWAS realized soccer is a business. This might also come as a shocker, but MLS is a business too and works almost the same way.

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      • I disagree. While MLS is certainly a business, NO other league in the soccer world can say that in any given year more than 4 teams (or less), will have a chance of winning the championship. Because one company is the owner and there is no pro/rel it can be very competitive on the field. Cant say for England, Germany, Italy, Spain etc….

      • That comes from their business model (Salary Cap). The closest model to them is Champions League where 8 or so teams spend roughly the same and another 10 or so are not that far behind. In the past 10 years, 7 different teams have one the Champions League and another 4 made it to the finals (from Germany/England/Italy/Spain).

        If you want to argue, business models that is a separate discussion. I actually like a modified pro/rel (with the 3 worst performers over a 2 or 3 year period) and a salary cap.

      • I’m talking about the business of developing players and selling them. It is purely a smart business practice for all feeder teams. You get a player, hope they perform above expectation and you sell them on to the next guy. Europe is not exclusive in this model, MLS does this too.

  6. I like! It is just good to have Americans playing and scoring regularly in the bundesliga. He should stay with Hamburg if they can stay up this year. Get at least 2 seasons in the bundesliga before crossing the pond. He is probably one of the more athletic players in the german league and can hang technically, but if he were to cross over to England he may just become a small fish. Spain anyone?

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    • I agree on staying. I don’t know what is up with Hamburg, but they might actually be a decent team all of a sudden. Ignoring the horrendous 8-0 beating from Bayern, in 2017 they have beat Red Bull, Gladbach, Leverkusen, and Hertha. They have 10 games left and most of those games are easier than the ones they just won. I’ll be curious to see where they end up, but I’d put money on them not getting relegated.

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