Martin Hinteregger reacted angrily to the strike accusations against him after a missed photo session with FC Augsburg and dismissed them as “complete nonsense”. Furthermore, Hinteregger by no means ruled out staying in the Fugger city despite his wish to change to Frankfurt Eintracht.
“Let’s be honest: If I wanted to strike or provoke something, I’d rather stay two weeks on holiday like Caiuby or Neymar,” Hinteregger made clear on the outskirts of the Augsburg training camp in Bad Häring, Austria.
After the central defender had stayed away from a photo session of the Fuggerstadt team, accusations arose that Hinteregger had wanted to force his departure to Eintracht Frankfurt. Instead, according to kicker information, he is said to have informed FCA via his advisor that staying in rehab in Salzburg was more important to him than the joint team photo.
“I still have a good reputation in Austria, but if it’s ‘the striking professional’, only because I missed an unofficial team photo, then that’s extreme,” Hinteregger explained his emotional state in view of the recent circulating interpretation of his absence.
The Austrian national player had been severely affected by this, also because he feared that the accusations of the striking professional would “stick to you for the rest of his life”. Therefore, he wanted to “straighten out” this matter.
“The image of the striking professional is complete nonsense, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Hinteregger, who came to Tyrol with the Augsburg team on Sunday, made clear.
In addition, Hinteregger signalled that, contrary to his recent clear wish to change to the SBU (‘For me there is only Frankfurt’), he could now imagine remaining with FC Augsburg. “If the old coach had still been there, I’m sure it wouldn’t have gone on for me. But now we have a new top trainer team,” said the 26-year-old: “Three years ago I knew what I was getting into with a five-year contract (until 2021, editor’s note). And he wasn’t unhappy in Augsburg for the first two and a half years.”
After Hinteregger had publicly criticized the FCA coach Manuel Baum in January of this year (“I can’t say anything positive about him and I won’t say anything negative”), he was suspended by the Fuggerstadters and awarded to Frankfurt. There he quickly rose to become the regular player and darling of the audience. Finally, the SBU is said to have been rebuffed by FCA with an offer of slightly more than ten million euros.
Hinteregger is hoping that the transfer, which is still pending, will now provide some clarity: “Of course, a clear statement from Stefan Reuter (manager of FC Augsburg, editor’s note) would be nice: ‘Hey, you’re not for sale, you’re staying. Or, “Hey, you’re free to go.” As long as it doesn’t exist, it “incriminates” you.
