Zoltan Gera’s agent claims that the former Baggies favourite turned down now fewer than six clubs as well as Albion to sign for Fulham.
The Hungarian international dealt a disappointing blow to Albion’s plans for their renewed assault on the Premier League when he completed a free transfer switch to Craven Cottage.
Scotland, Portugal, Greece, Spain and Germany were all potential destinations for the 29-year-old, who made it clear that the Baggies were up against ferocious competition for the midfielder’s services.
Bolton, Wigan, Everton and Middlesbrough were all strongly linked to Gera.
His agent Filipovic Vladan said: “There were lots of false reports, but it’s true that we received many detailed offers.
“Benfica, Celtic and Olympiakos were all interested and Valencia, Mallorca and Werder Bremen made an approach to sign him too.
“But Zoltan Gera wanted to play in England. Although a couple of Premier League teams showed interest, Fulham seemed to be the ideal choice.
“It’s a club with a great history and great aims for the following years and they think Zoli can help them.”
Gera’s new boss at Fulham, Roy Hodgson, also revealed that the club had been tracking the talented midfielder for some time.
He said: “We have been watching him since January. We have signed him into our starting line-up.”
Loading ...
53 Comments
In other words they offered the most money
Good Look!!…I’ll be clapping you next year!!!
Thanks for your goal against the dingles that kept them down and sent us up!!!!hahaha!!
BOING BOING!!!!(LEAVING THE JEALOUS DINGLES BEHIND!)
Fulham, a club with great history? Really?
Who’s bothered how many clubs were after him???
He has chosen to leave and thats that.
He has been a tremendous player 2 seasons out of 5. I wish him good luck but we need to move on. I am sure Mowbray will unearth a few gems over the summer. Why are Wolves fans commenting on how many clubs were chasing Gera??? Are you doing homework on players levaing clubs???? Reads like half your team will be going as well!!!
Nathan_baggie Jealous of the Baggies, you’ve got to be kidding.
Your just a sad fan who supports a sad team.
Goodbye and good riddance.
4. probably for the same reason that your lot comment on all our stories. the only player that will leave this close season is olifinjana. SEB, henessey etc will all stay and nobody wants the rest of the listed players.
i personally couldn’t give a toss about gera. takes a good penalty though.
Great history and aims? Is the history helping fund Harrods and aim is to survive yet another Relegation dog fight??!!
Gera just a greedy shite at the end of the day and went for money that the Albion didnt want to pay and who can blame him?? He only has a short career as a footballer after all and most will go where the money just like KP looks like he might do??
Just hope that the fans give him a great reception next season … after all Zolli has scored some important goals over the years that one at the Custart Bowl on April 15th 2008 my personal fave!!
although i’ll admit if we don’t go up next season seb, hennessey and kightly will all probably leave.
What a fool! Choosing a relegation struggle at Fulham instead of moving to the likes of Valencia or Celtic?!
5) Touched a nerve did he ? Truth hurts !
I couldn’t care less about how many great clubs G£ra rejected to join Harrods.
Can’t wait to boo the greedy little git next season.
“There’s only one greedy b*****d!”
I always liked Gera, and I tihnk he’ll be much missed. He’s a good player, but he’s clearly left for the money. It’d be better if was honest about this, rather than stating it’s history & ambition whilst turning down champion’s league football.
I’m sure most people would leave their jobs if they were offered more money elsewhere after all…..
WHO`S BOTHERD ABOUT GERA HAVING SIX OTHER CLUBS
AFTER HIM,HE SIGNED FOR FULHAM SO THAT`S THE END
OF THAT!
Iam more concerned about our current lack of
activity in the transfer market,its almost the
start of pre-season and we have not made one
single signing.
Although it seems we might be on the verge of
our first with the 2.5M capture of AMIOBI later
this week,but thats if you believe the London
media although they do seem pretty confident.
With a strike-force of MILLER/AMIOBI/MOORE/
and BEDNAR then that would be awsome.
We would then only need another midfeilder.
SORRY ITS AMEOBI NOT AMIOBI!
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. Yes he was offered more money at Fulham, but the real reason he left was because he was not sure of getting a game every week. He started last season on the bench and that’s where he would have been next year!
2. Your an idiot.
10. The truth does hurt, so on that note, Albion are a pathetic club. you’ve got no sponsor, no chairman, no players, no fans, no hope.
Kind of unfair to call Gera a greedy whatsit. He had to go where the money was, it must have been a no brainer. Anyone on here would do the same; you look after you and yours. It’s rubbish though to call Fulham a team with great history. What have they won?
5)–(Wanderers till I die)…have you ever thought of changing your name to–”CHAMPIONSHIP till I die”– because thats where your guna be 4 many more years to come!!!!!!!!!
i qoute….”Your just a sad fan who supports a sad team.” Shouldnt that read…”your just a HAPPY fan who supports a “HAPPY PREMIERSHIP” team”
BOING BOING!! ((ONCE AGAIN)..LEAVING THE JEALOUS DINGLES BEHIND!!)
5, 16. I think you’re both idiots.
And 16 did u shake when you wrote 17.? Why are we pathetic, yes we have no sponser but is that the best you can come up with? Err think we’re holding out for the best deal and when it comes it’ll prob be the best in the world!!!!
No chairman?? Really?? Err Jeremy Peace..
No platers?? Err we’ve spent 8million since may on 3 players.. oh dear this will make you EVEN more envious…. will be 11 when we sign oli!!
No fans… No of course not… Well i’m one no na na na na na… lol.
And no hope… mmmm PREMIER LEAGUE BOY…
Grow up pal.
17- If we’re so pathetic, why do you dedicate so much time commenting on articles related to us?
The very fact you bothered to write that undermines your point. If we are poor little Sandwell Town, a ’smaller’ club, why are you lot so obsessed with us?!
no.2.Let’s see you clapping Gera on 4th October after losing the previous six games.You gonna clap if he scores for Fulham? Rodney Marsh may attend and he said about the albion ‘Put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig.’
Great story……….. and your point is?, He left us weeks ago, good luck to him but to be perectly honest players who no longer play for us don’t really bother me. I’m more concerned with the lack of activity and before you jump on my comment Warren as you did the other day I’m not having a go at Peace just frustrated that we seem to be taking our time as usual. I know all about the Euros, players on holiday etc but to have a realistic chance of survival we need the players in for pre-season not the 31th August when the season has been going 3 weeks. TM needs time with the players to shape the team, tactics in friendly’s blar blar blar.
Boing Boing
thanks gera for the goals you scored against the dingles..
not a bad word to say to you after seeing you shut all them ugly mugs down at the custard bowl
I see elsie (17) has reverted to type with the banal and hate dripping comments…
No sponsor - so what ?? We are assessing our options - but we won’t just go with our chairman’s mate’s company like some…
No chairman - err…..??? We have the same chairman who got us promoted twice - what we are after now is extra investment… a bit like you did only with actual money !!
No players - LOL !!!!
No fans - again, err…. 21,000 STH’s so far… and no one booing either.
No hope - unlike wolves who hope they don’t draw Albion in the cup again this year - its getting embarrassing.
I suppose elsie will snow be posting his “you all pick on me” cry baby nonsense as usual when you answer his drivel…. what a numpty !!
No idea what snow posting is…. I think i was laughing so hard at Elsie that I hit the wrong key.
On the story - I reckon the E&S are looking for ANYTHING to fill a few pages at present - and if its got an anti Albion angle then even better…..
Whats next i wonder - could it be a story about Kev Phillips not signing yet - or how about Fatty Robinson wants to leave part III
To be honest I cannot see the Wolves finishing any higher than 9th place this coming season. You have not bought anyone and your best player “Ethan whatever banks” will be going to Everton. I would much rather be struggling in the Prem playing nice football than be mid table due to the Managers lack of decent tactics. I think the Wolves fans are obsessed with the Albion because secretly they all wish there team and club set up was like ours!!!
5,
So you don’t want to watch exiting attacking football and play in the prem then? Idiot
23- Romsley, apologies if it seemed like i jumped on what you said the other day. I take your point and at least the comments you write are constructive.
It’s just the mindless “Peace out, we never spend any money, he’s trying to bleed the club dry” comments that I find frustrating.
I acknowledge we’re slow in tying up transfers and in the past it’s cost us. But I’d rather the club be run prudently and that happen than us throw silly money at players and agents and get ourselves into trouble. I think we will spend heavily this summer, but only on the right players, not panic buys. Think we should give him a chance i.e. until the season begins, he at least deserves that.
On a separate note, what would all the Wolves fans on here spend their day doing if they couldn’t comment on poor little insignificant Albion?!
We’re as big as you else you wouldn’t bother. Learn to live with it.
Your club is becoming a Premier Joke again..lol
I was having a shave the other night while
listening to TALK-SPORT,and this advert came on
the radio,
HEY! ALL YOU MIDLAND SPORTS FANS,
ALL YOU WOLVERHAMPTON DINGLE FANS,
YOU CAN NOW BUY YOUR TEAMS GREAT SEASON REVEIW
OUT NOW ON DVD-PRICED £10.99,
AND YOU CAN SEE HOW YOUR TEAM FAILED MISERABLY
TO REACH THE PLAY-OFFS.
`WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO BUY THAT!
TYPICAL WOLVES THAT IS!
PEOPLE ON THE INSIDE WHO AINT GOT A SCOOBY-DOO
ABOUT FOOTBALL!
30. when barry goes just come on here crying because we will be waiting…counting down the days till september 20th when you lot come to fortress hawthorns and have your noses rubbed in it …clubs in safe hands with mogga youve seen the light now keep the faith…
If you want the truth Warren I agree with you witgh regards to being prudent and think that JP has done a magnificent job with regards to recouping money in transfers. All that being said we could afford with the squad we already had in place to take our time in the Championship, the same can’t be said for the Premiership. It’s vital we assemble the squad ASAP to give us half a chance in what is going to be a massive ask just to survive. It’s like chalk and chesse with the Championship although I do believe we have a better squad than last time we were up.
As for all the talk about money just one point to think about, everyone keeps saying how important the 60M is and how it’s crucial we get up to get the money. My question is how does it benifit the supporters? The answer is it doesn’t. Ok it makes us more financially stable but do we really see the benifit of it?. We get to see the big teams and big names but without the financial investment in the team let’s face it hand on heart we are going to struggle.
One other question why didn’t JP put the club up for sale the day after we were promoted instead of leaving it till a week or so ago?
Boing Boing
Can’t believe Baggies slagging off Gera. He was great for us. His contract was up. He’s not an Albion fan, it’s his job, he didn’t walk out 18 months into a 5 year contract like a certain Captain Marvel. I’ll be joining in the round of applause for Zoltan when he returns. It’s what decent fans do.
23 Warren.
Agree with your sentiments. I’d like to know which players that have actually moved since the end of the season the anti-Peace brigade think we should have signed. Personally I can’t see too many.
PS. Since Villa villa has been posting on here, Wolves wolves seems to have disappeared.
31 Andrew.
It was between that and Peter Kay. I went for the Wolves and wasn’t disappointed, the laughs just keep coming.
33 Romsley.
Can’t really see where you’re coming from. If JP had put the club up for sale the day after we won promotion, what would he have been accused of? Opportunism. Disloyalty. You can’t make players sign for you when you feel like it. Probably like me and you they will all be sniffing around for the best deal. What you’re saying is insulting to both the chairman and the manager, suggesting that there’s some magic formula that you understand but they don’t. I can’t even see your point about the benefit to the supporters of the money in the Prem. How would you suggest we should benefit? A lot of the £60 mill is to prevent the club going into liquidation. Yes we could borrow loads of money against it but this would incur massive interest payments. In the current financial uncertainty, is this what you really want. I’d prefer to still have a club to support a few years down the line.
there where 6 defenders chasing him at the moll but they daint catch him aye aye boing boing
Perhaps he didn’t want to overshadow what we’d achieved. Perhaps he needed to discuss it with other signifcant shareholders. The truth is, none of us know.
In exactly the same way that none of us know the exact reasons behind the lack of signings. It could be failings in the scouting network, the wage structure, the club being too tight with regards to transfer fees, lack of availability of targets, people being on holiday, agents making unreasonable demands, players not wanting to come to a team that’s tipped for a struggle or all of the above.
Some of the blame may be attributable to Jeremy Peace, some may not, we just don’t know, which is why it’s wrong, in my opinion, just to attibute the blame to him.
It’s healthy to show some scepticism like you do, and I pretty much agree with everything you say.
But there are too many ill-informed armchair fans and idiots on here making remarks without any substance like “Peace out, he’s a clown”. He’s done a better job than the majority of his predecessors and whether we like to admit or not, we’ve spent an awful lot in transfer fees in the past 5/6 years (I calculate over £50m since 2002) and the club is in a healthy state financially.
New players aside, we need to start that new season with positivity and the fans behind the team, not barracking the chairman if we lose our first 3 games. We’ll give ourselves a much better chance of not struggling.
Boing Boing
Think Gera was a good player for you lot. The one thing I think - if he left, he should have signed a contract so you got some cash - lescott and Olinfinyana have both done this for wolves…
gera said he was going for ambition
will he get ambition at fulham. i dont think so
after all they was nearly relegated last season
now thats ambition and it will not suprise me
if they go down next season if his agent told
the truth he only went for money like all the
other glory seekers ther is no loyalty to clubs
these days with a lot of players it is just pure greed so thank you mr gera for letting us all down
Turning down those clubs for a relegation fight with Fulham just shows what we all already new - he went for the money, end of. Geras game flourished under TM’s brand of attacking fearless football, after being was very disappointing during Robsons defensive boring reign, career-wise (not financially!)he’s at best made a side-step, at worst gone backward. Hodginsons style will be simular to Robsons so Gera will not enjoy his game as much as at Albion, but that won’t bother him too much living in London earning £?k a week! Personally i wish him well, he’ll get a good reception from me when he returns to the Hawthorns but i’m affraid he’ll be a bit of a let down for Fulham, not too disimular to Kamara. I maintain Gera would’ve done far better to play (stay?) with a club playing a brand of attacking football that suited his game.
Players come, players go…no-ones bigger than the club, he’ll soon be forgotten (remember Koumas?)but all the best to the lad - Good Luck Gera.
i wished we’d all stop bitching about each other. i hope my beloved baggies stay up and i hope the wolves go up next season. we need the blackcountry derby in the premiership so that all those plastic cockneys, mancs, and scousers can see what a proper local derby is like.
good luck gera just only wished you would have gone to a team where youwould win things like weder breman or celtic:D comon baggies n hoops
DOUBLED HIS WAGES IS ONLY REASON HES GONE TO FULHAM.
ITS ALL ABOUT THE M0NEY NOT THE AMBITION
Gera was a great servant to the Albion. Great player. I would have liked to have seen more loyalty and for him to have stayed, but thats football. The players don’t love the club as much as we do, and i think us fans sometimes forget that and feel they are betraying us in some way.
Good luck Zoltan. Hope you achieve what you want to achieve in the game - but there again i also hope Robbo puts you into the stand when you come back to the Hawthorns - and knowing Robbo friendships will count for nothing.lol
Nathan_baggies, jealous of you? Lol. Look at all those proven premiership signings you’ve made so far…..You can’t even sign up a Rochdale reject HA HA HA. Enjoy your last slot on Match of the day because it won’t last. Once you’ve had a few thrashings you won’t be so cocky. Reckon you’ll do better than Derby but only just………….Leaving us so called jealous dingles behind? Blind faith pal.
Ful-Humm History what a joke !! It’s all about money man.
46,loffin,weev already left you behind,aye aye boing boing
I think the ‘ambition’ quote came from the agent not Gera and I think we’re all realistic enough to know that when agents talk like this they’re refering to a club’s ambition to pay their client a ridiculous amount in wages. Which is what Fulham have done, glad that like the Baggies, I don’t shop at Harrods.
36. The Real Bully, Football is all about opinions that doesn’t make yours the only true and correct one. I asked a couple of questions yesterday thats all I haven’t slagged our chaiman or manager off so to reverse the question I can’t really see where you are coming from. By asking questions does that make me any less of an Albion fan or any less passionate than you? No it doesn’t. To say I have insulted the Chairman and Manager is crap mate. I have my opinion and it is that we should be getting the squad assembled early to give us a fighting chance, I’m well aware of the fact that it’s not always possible but if you are honest you will agree that we do have a history of long and drawn out transfer sagas but I have given JP credit on the selling side of things as he has done a magnificent job. I just am anxious that we haven’t learnt from our mistakes from previous years as it is hard enough breaking our necks to get in the Prem then don’t appear to have a real go at staying there but obviously without jeopordising the long term future of the club. It is a fine line.
Boing Boing
50 Romsley.
Sorry if I’ve offended you, it is an opinion driven site and I was giving mine. Nowhere did I suggest that you were less of an Albion fan than me, I wouldn’t be that conceited.
I may come over as JP’s number one fan but I used to be one of his major critics. It’s just that a lot of unfair criticism seems to be going his way at the moment.
You did actually criticise the lack of signings. I was only trying to point out that no one else has made any either and sometimes us mere mortals have no idea of the shenanigans that go on behind the scenes. You gave him praise for his sales but knocked him on purchases. We tied up a lot of deals last close season and in the Jan window TM said he didn’t really want to bring many in. I can’t think of too many targets last season that we missed out on although I agree this has been a problem in years gone by.
The £60 mill bit was a genuine question. I just couldn’t see what you were getting at.
I repeat my apology. I don’t set out to upset anyone (except Optimistic and Elsie Wolf etc) Perhaps I’ll have to be a bit more diplomatic. Cheers mate but it would be a bit boring if we all agreed with each other wouldn’t it.
The Real Bully, you haven’t offended me mate I have the skin of a Rhino. At the end of the day we all have the same agenda, we all just want to see us survive in the Prem I couldn’t stand going straight back down to the old fizzy pop league. I’ve had my fair share of watching the lower leagues. I think after all the support I have given over the years through thick and thin, more thin i feel deserve to be watching top flight football for at least a few years on the spin after witnessing the dark days of Bristol Rovers, Stockport, Port Vale, Darlington, Bury ETC. We are all one big happy family really!.
Anyone for Swansea Away on a friday night?, no thanks not anymore I still have the nightmares!!!!!!
Boing Boing
Money talks every time which is why gera went to fulham.How can gera compare fulham to the baggies if it wasn’t for money,fulham will probably be relegated next season because they only just avoid it last season.Tony is right if they don’t want to play for the baggies let them go