comments expresses the writer’s opinions.
A WEEK BEFORE the transfer window opens, Vålerenga is in an increasingly better position, now number eight in the table. With Ivan Näsberg on his way to Greece, the hole he leaves in central defense is a place Dag-Eilev Fagermo wants to fill.
Vålerenga therefore needs a centre-back, but not at any price.
This is where national team stopper Stefan Strandberg comes into play.
STEFAN STRANDBERG IS free on the market, but comes with a demand VIF owner Tor Olav Trøim is not willing to pay. So far, the national team stopper’s condition for putting pen to paper is of a size that no Norwegian club will be able to afford, there is talk of ten million kroner in “sign on fee”.
Also read: It is the model that is the problem, not Trøim
A month ago, Strandberg’s salary demands could be seen as a starting point for negotiations, especially after the good games for Norway in the Nations League.
Where we are now, six weeks after he played his last football game, is losing steam with each passing day.
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NORWAY’S NEXT INTERNATIONAL MATCH will be played against Slovenia on September 24. If Stefan Strandberg is to start it, he should find a club as soon as possible. Abroad is of course still a possibility, but with each passing day it becomes less and less likely.
In Europe, the transfer window has been open since 1 July.
Stefan Strandberg still trains for himself.
MortenP
Morten Pedersen is from Vålerenga, Oslo east. Worked freelance in Arbeiderbladet during school. To Dagbladet in 1986. Two periods as correspondent for Dagbladet in London. The online newspaper from 2021. Editor and publisher of the football magazine – 4-4-3 Gatelagmagasinet.
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IN THAT PERSPECTIVE can you say Stefan Strandberg needs Vålerenga more than Vålerenga needs him. Chance losers Vålerenga have decided to prioritize a goalscorer (striker) in the upcoming transfer window. Strandberg is desperate for a club to play for.
As of date, he has not played football since Norway beat Sweden 3-2 at Ullevaal on 12 June.
If anyone is counting those days, it is national team coach Ståle Solbakken.
Also read: It takes not meeting expectations
AS BOSMAN PLAYERS HAD Stefan Strandberg had good cards on his hands when his people started talking to alternative clubs a couple of months ago. What his representatives apparently didn’t have was guts.
It is not a young player we are talking about, a player with a possible resale as upside.
Stefan Strandberg is 32 years old today (!), comes with a significant injury history and is looking for a final contract.
SOURCES SAY THAT there have been conversations/contact with Vålerenga at least a couple of times, most recently not too long ago. The distance between the parties is still too great. Injury-wise, there is a limit to how far Tor Olav Trøim is willing to stretch.
Considering Vålerenga’s history in terms of similar signings, it is understandable.
Remember Tore André Flo, Rune Lange and Mohammed Elabdellaoui (Moa).
They were all big and expensive signings, which breathed life into the optimism and were fun for a while.
When the damage history they brought was all they had to contribute, it just got expensive.
Also read: Fagermo is good on 11 points after 12 games
THAT VÅLERENGA WILL getting better with Stefan Strandberg as a defender, manager and whip-in is little wonder. The question is for how long. His back will always be a point of uncertainty. It also has its price.
Weighed against someone who can shoot the ball into the goal, it is therefore easy to see the club’s priorities.
Vålerenga’s next signing cannot just cost money.
He has to taste too.
These are Nettavisen’s columnists
FOR THREE SERIES ROUNDS since then, many people announced Dag-Eilev Fagermo’s departure and that he was close to being fired from Vålerenga. Since then, the team has played steadily better and won three games in a row for the first time since Tromsø (3-0), Brann (2-0) and Lillestrøm (1-0) were beaten in August/September 2018.
Dag-Eilev Fagermo is going nowhere, and Vålerenga is only looking up the table.
Although Stefan Strandberg will be a reinforcement, he is not the one they need most.
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