Former Melbourne City star makes shock transfer to J1 League club

Melbourne City stung after “reluctant” release

A little over two weeks ago, Melbourne City announced that their star Tolgay Arslan would be leaving the club.

The 33-year-year old signed for the City Group outfit last summer. Given his past with clubs like Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, and Udinese, Arslan was one of the most high-profile signings in recent A-League history. He lived up the hype almost immediately.

Arslan had 20 goal contributions in just 23 league matches for the City Blues last season. For his efforts, he was named a league All Star. Arslan was not happy though.

After the season, the Paderborn, Germany native asked to be released from his contract. Reports cited “family reasons” and a desire to go back to Germany. City did not want to let him go, but eventually they relented.

City announced two weeks ago that they had “reluctantly agreed” to terminate Arslan’s contract. It was originally set to run through the end of next season.

“Whilst it’s very disappointing to lose a player of Tolgay’s quality, especially after the commencement of pre-season training, sometimes there are factors out of our control,” City said in a statement.

“He’s a player we absolutely wanted to keep, and we did everything in our power to find a way for him to stay…We would like to thank Tolgay for his contribution and wish him and his family all the best in the future.”

Arslan acknowledged the club and thanked them for allowing him to leave his contract early to presumably go back to Germany.

“I’m disappointed to be leaving Melbourne, but I am grateful for the opportunity to have played for City and appreciate the Club’s understanding in my decision,” he said.

Arslan breaks promise

While it didn’t end well, the feeling in the A-League and at Melbourne City was that Arslan was being genuine and that he desperately wanted to go home.

City and the A-League were then blindsided this week when it was announced that Arslan had joined J1 League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

The club are reportedly angered by the move, but they are not planning on taking any action against Arslan or Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

WIthout Arslan City will have a tough time regaining their dominance in the A-League. Most betting sites have them as fourth best to win the league next season. Some soccer betting experts are more pessimistic. If there are no big signings this offseason, it could be a long season for City next year.