Roger Schmidt reacted on Wednesday evening to the absence of Mohamed Ihattaren in the return match against Galatasaray in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. The PSV coach believes the attacking midfielder is ill. Ihattaren called in sick for training on Sunday and did not travel with the selection to Istanbul a day later.
However, Ihattaren was photographed on Tuesday at the OGC Nice training complex. “He’s not here right now. I think he’s sick,” Schmidt told RTL7. “That’s what the doctors told me. But now I don’t have the space to talk about players who aren’t there.” Analyst Wesley Sneijder, however, does not believe that Ihattaren is indeed ill. “You can tell me a lot, but there is more to it. He is not sick, otherwise you cannot fly. A strange story.”
Sneijder says in the studio of RTL7 laughing that agent Mino Raiola has ‘some shares’ in Nice, which has already strengthened itself with his clients Justin Kluivert, Pablo Rosario and Calvin Stengs. Still, Sneijder has his reservations. “I once played in a team with all Dutch people at Real Madrid, that did not go well then and that cannot go well. I would also find it a very strange choice for Ihattaren to go there.”
In the field of incoming transfers, PSV has already done business with the arrival of Davy Pröpper, Marco van Ginkel, Phillipp Mwene, André Ramalho and Joël Drommel. Schmidt still hopes for additional reinforcements. “With Donyell Malen, Pablo Rosario and maybe Denzel Dumfries we are losing key players, but we have already made good transfers. The new signings fit well with our style of play. We want to strengthen our squad and we are patient, because the transfer market is open until 31 August. We are trying to find good replacements for the players who have left.”
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