Brought in from Slovenia, sold to Saudi Arabia: Suleman Sani nets RB Leipzig a profit in the millions without having played a single minute.
The deal had been in the works for some time, and on Monday it was finally finalized: Suleman Sani (20) is transferring to Al-Qadisiya in Saudi Arabia. The club, which also employs former Bundesliga pros Koen Casteels and Julian Weigl, is providing RB with an unexpected transfer fee of eight million euros—including bonuses—for its last summer signing, resulting in a transfer profit of three million euros.
This is all the more remarkable because Leipzig had acquired the Nigerian left winger as recently as January for five million euros from the Slovak first-division club AS Trencin, and he had not played a single minute in a competitive match for RB since then. When he signed the four-and-a-half-year contract, sporting director Marcel Schäfer described him as a “highly talented young winger” and a “preview of the summer.”
Sani Has No Future Under Either Werner or Demichelis
But it quickly became clear to them that Sani would not be able to make the leap to a top Bundesliga club, partly because the youngster turned out to be extremely injury-prone. As a result, he failed to make the matchday roster under either former coach Ole Werner or current coach Martin Demichelis.
In Leipzig, they are understandably happy to have received such a sum for the player who had no future prospects, a sum that improves their transfer balance. For Sani, who reportedly received a three-year contract, the road ahead leads to further sporting uncertainty.