“They have the money” – Freiburg manager confesses real reason Super Eagles-eligible star was allowed to make Premier League move

The attacker is one of the most highly-rated youngsters in German football but he finally completed a switch to England a few days ago

SC Freiburg head coach Christian Streich has confessed that the huge financial compensation around the deal was the primary reason Freiburg agreed to let talented youngster Kevin Schade join Brentford.

Freiburg rejected multiple bids from Brentford last summer for Schade who was the fastest player last season in the Bundesliga, clocking 36.7km/h.

But Brentford finally got their man on January 4, after agreeing on an initial loan move for the 21-year-old with an obligation to buy at the end of the campaign.

The Bees paid the Germans a loan fee of €1 million and are expected to cough out around €25m in the summer to make the move permanent.

It is a deal that will see Freiburg make a huge profit on a player who only cost them €250,000 in 2018 when he joined their youth setup from FC Energie Cottbus.

Schade spent the subsequent three years developing before being promoted to the first team. The youngster excelled in the top flight, registering six goals and four assists in 36 appearances.

Freiburg manager Streich is not in doubt of Schade’s quality but the German tactician appears unconvinced that a team that knows what to do with money would be willing to spend so much on an unproven youngster.

The 57-year-old coach just stopped short of saying Freiburg jumped at Brentford’s huge offer even if they ideally wanted Schade to remain at the Europa-Park Stadion.

What has Streich said? 

“(He’s) a very talented player with extraordinary individual skills that very few players have like that,” Streich said of Schade as per Kicker.

“But we got an offer for him, they really wanted him the English. They have the money, then it’s also nice that a little bit comes to us. They don’t know what to do with some of the money.

“We’re doing well even without these incredible investors that they have in England and to some extent in Germany because we work the way we work and also make transfers that help us because players have developed well.

“After all, that is also an award, not so much for us and certainly not for me, but for the football school. Ideally, we would have liked to have had the money and Kevin would still be here, but that’s not possible.”

Born in Potsdam, Germany, to a German mother and Nigerian father, Schade is eligible to represent both Germany and Nigeria in international competition. He has, however, represented Germany at the youth level, earning his first cap for the U18 in 2019.