Football: Hands off Zuberbühler, warn Basel
The president of Basel football club, René Jäggi, has ruled out any transfer involving the club's goalkeeper, Pascal Zuberbühler. The German Bundesliga club, Hamburg SV, are reported to be interested in signing the 29-year-old Swiss international.
The speculation follows a story in the German newspaper, Bild, claiming that Hamburg are ready to sell their highly rated keeper, Hans-Jörg Butt, to Bayer Leverkusen, with Zuberbühler emerging as their first choice replacement.
Jäggi has insisted that any approach for the Basel keeper will be blocked. “Zuberbühler is not for sale,” he stated. “His contract runs until 2004 and will be honoured.”
“We have an intact team here in Basel, which should be kept together” he continued. “FC Basel is not in the business of solving other club’s goalkeeper problems.”
Having signed a five-year contract after moving to Basel from Grasshoppers, Zuberbühler is unlikely to be moving from the club without Jäggi’s blessing. If Hamburg are prepared to stump up a decent transfer fee, the Basel president could be convinced to soften his tone. But it’s unlikely the club would let the keeper go for anything less than four million Swiss francs.
Zuberbühler was unavailable for comment over the weekend, and with good reason. On Sunday he was busy getting married to his girlfriend, Beatriz.
swissinfo with agencies
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