Brondby head coach Jesper Sorensen is disappointed with Oscar Schwartau’s decision to join Norwich City, but can understand why he wants to experience life under a new head coach.
Schwartau joined City in the summer transfer window for a fee just under £2m after contractual frustrations with his boyhood club hastened his exit.
Johannes Hoff Thorup and Glen Riddersholm were long-term admirers of Schwartau from their time in Denmark, with City’s recruitment team keeping tabs on the midfielder for a substantial period of time. They moved quickly when the prospect of a deal became possible.
Schwartau’s exit was met with frustration and angst by Brondby’s supporters – which Sorensen can understand and regrets that the teenager took the decision to move to Carrow Road.
“As a Brondby man, it’s a shame, but Oscar thinks he needed something else and probably a new coach,” Sorensen told Danish outlet Bold.
“We have not hidden from him that we have great faith that he will be a really good player, and I still believe that.
“I hope the very best for him. He is a player who loves Brondby, and Brondby loves him. Now he gets a new opportunity elsewhere.
“I think that this is why Oscar may have doubted whether this was the right place for him to take the next step.
“And then he had a contract, the expiry of which meant that now a decision had to be made from both sides. That’s how it has been.”
Schwartau came through Brondby’s academy, featuring 46 senior times and netting six strikes at club level.
Sporting director Carsten V. Jensen sympathised with Schwartau’s frustrations but felt he should have shown more patience at the club.
“To be honest, I don’t feel particularly good about that. I believe that Schwartau should clearly have stayed in Brondby and taken the last step,” Jensen said. “He has come a long way in the last two years, and it is probably only now that he has really hit the ground running.
“But on the other hand, I can also see from Oscar’s side that there may have been a bit of a lull in playing time, and that means a lot for a young man. The development has been there, but unfortunately Oscar did not choose Brondby, but to leave. When that should happen, we have been well compensated.
“I’m not going to blame anything. Schwartau has done really well for Brondby, and he has made a choice. He could also have stayed with us, and we would have been very happy about that too. He needs all the luck and maybe even a welcome back at some point. Who knows.”
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