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The entire Mainz team goes on strike because of Szalai
| Reading time: 2 minutes
Adam Szalai came to FSV Mainz 05 in the summer of 2019. The forward scored 26 goals (14 assists) in 113 competitive matches.
Source: Bongarts / Getty Images / Alex Grimm
On Monday, the Mainz 05 club management had surprisingly suggested to Adam Szalai that he look for a new club. Probably the reason was a dispute over salary payments. Now the team is in solidarity with the retirees.
AEverything was ready for Wednesday afternoon training, cones and obstacles already in place on the field: But then the Mainz team refused to go out to practice. According to information from “Bild”, it should be a strike by the team, in solidarity with Adam Szalai.
The 32-year-old attacker no longer has a future at the Bundesliga club. “We told Adam that he would no longer play a role in our sporting plans,” Mainz sporting director Rouven Schröder said on Monday. “From our point of view, Adam is unlikely to get the times he expected this season in Mainz 05, especially in view of the important preparation for the Hungarian national team and the European Championship next summer.”
Schröder suggested a club change to the forward: “We are of the opinion that it therefore makes sense for him to completely reorient himself and look for a new club.” In Sunday’s first Bundesliga game at RB Leipzig (1: 3) Szalai was absent for sporting reasons. Coach Achim Beierlorzer did not name the attacker for the team. Szalai returned to Mainz in the summer of 2019/2020. The Hungarian international failed to convince.
Payment deferral is probably the bone of contention
However, according to information from “Bild”, there is another reason for the dismantling. From the players’ circle it should have penetrated that the club’s management fired Szalai because he campaigned on the team’s council for the prospect of the return of the money that the professionals had initially given up in the salary deferral negotiated by the Crown crisis. According to information from “Bild”, the club is completely walking away from this deal, apparently not wanting to return anything.
Szalai, for his part, insists on his rights, wants to return to team training, and arrived at the track and field session scheduled for Wednesday morning despite being sent off. However, he was not allowed to participate, instead having to train alone in the back corner of the training area with head of rehabilitation Axel Busenkell.
On Wednesday afternoon, press representatives, photographers and club employees were waiting for the players at the training ground. Training was scheduled for 4 pm After an hour of waiting in vain, the press department announced: The team will not go out onto the field to train today.
According to the newspaper, there were heated discussions before the scheduled afternoon training. Players do not want to continue as normal until things are settled with Szalai.
