Feyenoord vice-captain David Hancko had long agreed on personal terms with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr before the two sides struck a deal for the Slovakian centre-half last Friday. Al Nassr agreed to pay €40 million for Hancko, who would become Feyenoord’s record sale.
Al Nassr invited Hancko to join the team’s training camp in Austria after the two parties put pen to paper on an agreement in principle. Once in Austria, however, Al Nassr kept Hancko, who stayed in a hotel away from the team, in the dark while the club said they’d finalise the transfer of the 27-year-old.
On Tuesday, news broke that Al Nassr had cancelled the deal altogether and that Hancko would no longer join the club. In the days prior, Hancko was not permitted to enter the team hotel in Austria and would not train with the first team.
The news came as a shock to both Feyenoord and Hancko, who’d already cancelled the rent of his apartment in Rotterdam, which has since been cleared out. Team spokesman Raymond Salomon has called the way Al Nassr have handled the transfer, calling it “outrageous” how Al Nassr treated Hancko.
“He had reached an agreement with Al-Nassr, and so had Feyenoord. Then they let him come to the training camp, only to tell him he was no longer welcome there suddenly. That's unprecedented.”
The 52-time Slovakian international is under contract in Rotterdam until 2028 and will join the team’s training camp in South Germany, a 90-minute drive from Al Nassr’s camp in Austria. There he will be reunited with the players and coaching staff he had already said goodbye to.
Manager Robin van Persie has already indicated that he will welcome his captain back with open arms. Hancko will be given time to process the biggest disappointment of his career.
Transfer on hold
Feyenoord were already working on replacements for Hancko, having struck a deal with Belgian side AA Gent for Japanese defender Tsuyoshi Watanabe and were also in talks with Middlesbrough defender Rav van den Berg. Whilst Watanabe's transfer is still on, Hancko's deal falling through means Van den Bergh's transfer is now put on hold.
