IFK Norrköping’s coach Rikard Norling has said he is disappointed agent Atta Aneke is trying to force a transfer for Samuel Adegbenro even though the forward still has two years left on his contract.
Atta Aneke has told Norwegian television Adegbenro has an offer from Asia.
The player himself refused to train and did not feature in a match against IF Brommapojkarna.
“I do not know … it’s a little disappointment on my part, especially his agent (Aneke Atta), here. After all, Samuel has a contract for another two years and his agent is so desperate to try to move him out of here that he started by trying to get Samuel to basically punish himself for getting away,” Norling told NT-Sporten.
“When that did not succeed, he (the agent) goes out to the media and puts pressure on us to sell the player to China. To me, it’s really indefensible. I strongly dislike it. It’s not okay.”
Norling admitted the whole episode has affected his relationship with Adegbenro.
“It has been affected here now that the agent is driving and doing everything to get him out of the contract. And it’s clear that this is affecting my relationship with Samuel as well,” he said.
“We’ll see what happens, it’s just unfortunate. I’m sad and damn disappointed, mostly at the fact that it’s like this now and that he has an agent who pushes so uncompromisingly.”
The IFK coach accused Atta Aneke of stopping the player from training.
“It is a conscious choice that is controlled by his agent. He’s here, but not in the way an employer wants him to behave,” he alleged.
“It is extremely unfortunate that it should be able to operate so far. I do not know what to say more.”
The 26-year-old Adegbenro was the top scorer in Sweden last season when he scored 17 goals in 30 matches.