“Let it go” – Manager relieved star isn’t joining Leeds United

Werder Bremen coach Horst Steffen has admitted publicly that he’s pleased Leeds United aren’t signing Romano Schmid.

Zevener Zeitung and Kicker both cover comments from hi today. He’s clearly delighted that the Austrian looks likely to remain at Bremen this month.

Reports had suggested that Leeds United were keen on the 25-year-old this month. In fact, one in England claimed that Leeds were in serious talks to get a deal done. The whole affair was presented as if he could arrive at Elland Road quickly.

As soon as they made their way to Germany, though, they started to fall apart. Deich Stube quickly dismissed the rumours and were backed up by BILD. The latter said there had been contact weeks ago, but that was about it.

Then came Bremen director Clemens Fritz. He also shot down the rumours entirely: “No one has contacted us about Romano. We are currently not expecting a transfer in the winter and are planning with him for the rest of the season.”

According to Deich Stube, the whole affair was nothing more than agents trying to push their client’s name around.

Leeds United drama caused some worry

Still, there was some worry for the German club that a Leeds United bid was coming. They would likely have found it hard to resist Premier League money. Losing a key player would have been a serious blow, and Steffen is glad that’s not happening.

“I’m glad he’s here. And I hope it stays that way,” he said at a press conference. He also labelled the rumours as “speculative.”

“Everything that was now again about rumours in the world did not bother him in terms of performance.”

“This is speculative and since I usually do not like to talk about things that are in the future, I say: let’s just let it go,” Kicker add him saying on the subject.