Sheffield United star rejected lucrative top-flight European moves in favour of Bramall Lane
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Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur, the Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-half told The Star he received approaches from teams operating in some of the continent’s leading divisions after being seduced by Paul Heckingbottom’s approach to the game.
Confirming those proposals were all more lucrative than the one he accepted at Bramall Lane, having decided to leave Malmo last summer, Ahmedhodzic said: “My motivation is always football. Not money. Football is what drives me. I always believe that if you do well at football then the money will follow, it finds you anyway. And football is the most important thing.”
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“There was the possibility (to go to Europe), yes,” he added. “There was the chance to go to leagues that some people think might be bigger than the Championship. But I made up my mind very early that I wanted to come here. That was because I believed in the gaffer’s plan and what he was telling me about how he wants to play. I’m very glad I did.”
Although Ahmedhodzic declined to identify who were rivalling United’s for his signature, Malmo are known to have received at least two expressions of interest from Ligue 1, where he completed a spell on loan with Bordeaux last term. Others are understood to have come from Italy, with Ahmedhodzic’s father Mirsad once insisting that Milan were monitoring his son’s progress in Sweden. Celtic were previously linked with a move for Ahmedhiodzic too, while Jon Dahl Tomasson, his former head coach at Malmo, wanted him to take him to Blackburn Rovers after being appointed by United’s Championship opponents tomorrow.
Suspended for that match, Ahmedhodzic started the fifth round clash with Spurs as United reached the quarter-final stage of the competition, where they will face Rovers again later this month. United are second in the table and seven points clear of third placed Middlesbrough following last weekend’s win over Watford.
“I like the culture in England,” said Ahmedhodzic, who spent a period with Nottingham Forest at the beginning of his professional career. “It is perfect for my style of play. I planned everything before joining (United) and made sure this step was the right one. I could have gone to a bigger league but this was the right step for me.”
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Hide Ad“The interest, it was more from abroad,” he continued. “There was the possibility to go there but I wanted to come here because it made sense. It wasn’t about money. That does not come first. Not for me.”
United will check Ciaran Clark’s fitness before finalising their squad for the journey to Lancashire. The defender, on loan from Newcastle, was taken ill earlier this week as the virus which has affected Heckingbottom’s training schedules of late continues to cause problems at the Randox Health Academy.
“Ciaran hasn’t trained,” he said. “We’ll see how he is. He is ill. It’s the same thing that has been going around for a while. You try and contain it but sometimes, even though the protocols about this type of thing have got better, that’s impossible.”