1. FC Nürnberg: The most spectacular transfer day in the history of the association

The conversation now lasts almost an hour, so Olaf Rebbe is suddenly mentally mentally in January 2014. Only for a moment, but this day around eleven years ago is the first thing that comes to mind for the sports director of 1. FC Nürnberg, If you ask him if he has ever experienced such a turbulent transfer day.

Rebbe smiles. The 46-year-old says that he has been involved a lot before telling the story. At that time he was still working for VfL Wolfsburg and wanted to sign a certain Kevin de Bruyne. In the negotiations with Chelsea FC, only a few percent were left, but the conversations drew and drew. In the end, that’s the punch line, everything went well. De Bruyne came to Wolfsburg, won the DFB Cup with VfL and triumphed so much that he recommended himself for the big football.

Eleven years later, Rebbe was not dealing with Chelsea FC, but with another club from the Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion, the club of the German coach Fabian Hürzeler. But in turn.

Together with sports director Joti Chatzialexiou, Rebbe committed the striker Stefanos Tzimas Festival from Paok Saloniki, which was previously only borrowed, transferred the Greeks for this and immediately passed Tzimas for 25 million euros to Brighton – but agreed with the English until the end of the season. Tzimas, 19, will end the season in Nuremberg, but the agreement of his change is at the center of the most spectacular transfer day that the club has ever experienced. 18 million, 25 million: there are dizzying numbers with which Rebbe and Chatzialexiou have handled the winter change period on the last meters.

Finn Jeltsch goes to Stuttgart for around ten million

The next morning, it is Tuesday, Rebbe sits in a meeting room on the first floor of the office and puts the left leg over the right. Chatzialexiou sits at his side. The two of them have stressed the past few days, but you don’t see that. Actually, they wanted to have answered all questions at the weekend, but a advance from VfB Stuttgart, whether Finn Jeltsch could still be had, then caused a dynamic to result in a breathless day: Jeltsch moved for almost ten million euros Stuttgart, Tzimas went and came back, Fabio Gruber switched from Verl to the Club, Eryk Grzywacz from Wolfsburg and Janis Annostated from Sassuolo.

Now, on the first day after the transfer period, you don’t have to imagine Rebbe and Chatzialexiou with deep dark circles – but also not with plump cash. “We have put the tank full, but the tank still has a leak,” says Chatzialexiou and says: The club has taken up a lot of money in the past few days, but has to use it again to get back on its feet come. “It’s about healthy,” explains Chatzialexiou, “we have still oriented ourselves towards the first division in some areas, but have not played the first division for years.”

Too high expenses, failures on the lawn, falling TV revenue: This is how the club fell into an imbalance that required transfer revenues. Nuremberg has now achieved this – but not on the size that could be assumed at first glance. For example in Tzimas, where there are several additional agreements and footnotes. According to reports, the FCN remains around half of the seven million euros between the transfers to Thessaloniki and the Blighton income. This is also a considerable sum for a second division club. However, due to the tense financial situation, Nuremberg cannot make too big jumps.

This also applies to sport, after all, a hopeful talent has already gone with Jeltsch, and Jens Castrop is all about 4.5 million euros to Borussia Mönchengladbach in summer, while Tzimas in Brighton fulfills his dream of Premier League. In a way, the Nuremberg people are in a vicious circle: To keep players like Jeltsch, Castrop or Tzimas, they have to play in the Bundesliga. But to get to the Bundesliga, you need players like Jeltsch, Castrop or Tzimas. That is the dilemma.

So how can it succeed in building up a team and not just being a point of contact for larger clubs who know that the talents frolic at the Valznerweiher? The latest transfers are already a step on the way there, explains Rebbe. Through the income, the association is no longer forced to have players draw on the first offer.

So the club has born a little winter bacon and will also benefit from it in the next transfer periods. Rebbe is clear that further offers will land on his desk in the coming months. Nuremberg has earned the call to be an excellent address for young players. “Actually,” says Rebbe, “it takes longer to create such an image, but we notice it when we speak to players and clubs.” And so there could soon be the next players in the Jeltsch, Castrop and Tzimas category .