Race heats up for Bundesliga veteran
It would seem that Michael Ballack is preparing for a move away from Bayer Leverkusen after the club revealed that he had not trained with them today.
To fuel the fire of transfer speculation, it recently emerged that the former German international had experienced a falling out with manager Robin Dutt.
Ballack is very likely to move on from the BayArena tonight after the club said that they wouldn’t not be renewing his contract which is set to expire in the summer and they could decide to cash in on his signature rather than lose him for free.
The 35 year-old has been an on-off fixture in the Leverkusen squad, often failing to last the full 90 minutes, leading the club to think that their veteran is ‘over their hill’.
Ballack played in the Premier League for Chelsea from 2006-2010 and the Blues have been linked with a move for the midfielder as well as Liverpool and Manchester United.
Despite the absence, Dutt remains confident that his charge will stay with the club.
Speaking to German newspaper Rheinische Post, the Leverkusen boss said: “Michael has a day off on Tuesday. This is down to a private appointment.
He added: “We both had agreed on this last week. Michael is a part of our squad. I am convinced he will be to play some more games for us this season.”
Even with these claims, one can’t help but feel that the aging playmaker’s thoughts are elsewhere today and a January move could still materialize.
