My second story of the day concerns a player that if you read Vital Norwich regularly, you will know that I rate highly.
I am of course talking about the mercurial talent that is Moritz Leitner.
Mo came to Norwich in late January and his loan move looked like something of a coup for the club in getting the former German U21 Captain in. He was on the bench as Borussia Dortmund lost the Champions League final against Bayern Munich under Jurgen Klopp and seemed to have the world at his feet back in 2013.
His career has seen him move around since leaving Dortmund in 2016 though. He first moved to Lazio but just eighteen months later he moved back to Germany with F.C. Augsburg for a reported fee of just €2m. Augsburg was a club he already knew, having spent time on loan there in 2011.
However, it didn’t work out and twelve months later he was at Norwich with a coach he knew him from their Dortmund days together, Daniel Farke. His ability on the ball was obvious right from the start, although, like Mario Vrancic, he took a little time to get used to the physicality of the Championship.
I harbour hopes that City can strike a deal to bring him back to Norfolk, possibly as a replacement for James Maddison, and so I keep an eye on what he’s up to in the summer break.
He is one of the many current footballers that use Instagram as a way to build their profile and his account, moleitner5, gives a window into his life.
He is currently keeping fit, after a holiday in the UAE (nice) with his partner and I can also tell you that he absolutely loves his French Bulldog, who is very cute.
Anyway, last night I noticed an interesting Instagram response to an article in German media outlet TZ.de.
The article refers to Mo moving clubs every year and suggests that he could return to 1860 Munich, his first club, and also that his contract expires with Augsburg on June 30th thus making him a free transfer.
That isn’t true, as far as I know, because by my reckoning he has two and a half years left on that contract, and the article also suggests the didn’t enjoy his time at Norwich.
Mo responded as follows on his Instagram story:
”Contract expires? Have not been happy in Norwich? Free transfer? Thank you for sweetening my evening?”
That was accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Just a couple of days ago I noticed a picture on his Insta story of him celebrating a goal with his Norwich team mates with the message “Miss this.”
It’s a little cryptic, but reading between the lines it seems that he thinks this is all rubbish and gave him a good laugh and that he missed playing for Norwich.
Glad we got that cleared up.
Now, when are you coming back to Norwich, Mo?
OTBC