Off to China

What Sarkaria says about his transfer to Sturm

(Bild: GEPA)

Before Sturm's Champions League appearance in Bergamo on Tuesday, the transfer of Manprit Sarkaria went through: The former ÖFB team striker is moving to Shenzen Peng City, a club of the Manchester City Group, in China's first division, signing until 31. 12. 2026. Sturm, who want to present a replacement in the next few days, will receive a transfer fee.

His manager Markus Peresich from the Signature agency knows what awaits the 28-year-old on his first foreign posting in the city of 20 million inhabitants in China's south: "Peng City finished 14th in the Super League last season and is part of the City Football Group, which also includes ManCity. English managers also oversee the training here, which is led by Italian coach Christian Lattanzio."

The co-coach is the Austrian Sinan Bytici, who played for Manchester City, while the sporting director is the German Daniel Stenz, who used to be a scout and analyst at Union Berlin, the club of Sturm sporting director Michael Parensen.

Sarkaria even played once for the national team under Rangnick.

(Bild: krone.at)

Big time is over
The club, which will be promoted to the Super League in 2023 (where the era of big names and big salaries is now over), is very internationally positioned and has just built a new stadium with a capacity of 45,000 spectators for 900 million euros: "Manny was brought in as a key player, the aim is to win the title in two years' time," says Peresich about the man with the highest transfer value in the squad.

For now, however, it's off to a training camp in Thailand, after which the wife of the high-class technician, who Sturm fans will love forever for his brace in the 2023 Cup final against Rapid, will come to China. The championship kicks off on February 22. "I wouldn't have left, but I wouldn't have had any chance of playing time at Sturm," said Sarkaria.