- Hancko reveals Al-Nassr contract magnitude
- Player decided to opt otherwise
- Saudi club was not his first choice
Hancko had a very lucrative offer from Al-Nassr as he looked to leave Feyenoord in the summer, but the transfer collapsed at the last minute when the Saudi Pro League team walked away from negotiations. Instead, he opted to join Atletico after previously flirting with a move to the Spanish side, though his earnings are significantly lower than they would have been had he made the move to the Middle East.
Hancko was in Austria, where Al-Nassr were spending their pre-season, as he neared a move to the Riyadh team. However, he had a feeling that something was not right, and that’s when his agent contacted Atletico and offered the player. The former Feyenoord defender was on Atletico’s radar since last season. But, they finally signed him for an annual wage of €12 million (£10m/$14m) this season, and that too in one and a half days.
The 27-year-old Slovakian said in an interview with TA3:\”Al Nassr wasn’t our first choice because I always wanted to stay in Europe. And although I spoke to coaches and sporting directors at other clubs in previous transfer windows, the transfer never materialised. This summer, only one offer came in, but it was incredible… So we had to sit down and talk about it. From a certain point of view, it wasn’t ideal to have to drag my pregnant wife halfway around the world to Riyadh, but she told me she would come there and we could work it out. Although, of course, she had her preferences about where to go.
“I’m not going to lie, that contract was simply… If I compare contracts, I would have to play for Atlético for 20 years to earn that much. And I have a five-year contract with them, while with Al-Nassr it was only four.”
Hancko scored as Slovakia pulled off a shock win against Germany in World Cup qualifying before they went on to beat Luxembourg. He will now return to the Atletico camp for their upcoming fixture against Villarreal on September 13.
