Leckie signs for Hertha BSC
Ingolstadt may have been relegated from the German Bundesliga, but Australia attacker Mathew Leckie won't be going down with it having signed a one-year deal with Hertha BSC.
Socceroos star Mathew Leckie has signed a one-year deal at ambitious Bundesliga club Hertha BSC, bringing to an end his three-year stint at Ingolstadt.
The move brings to an end a tumultuous time at the Bavarian club at which he help secure promotion in 2014-2015, only to suffer the agony of relegation two years later.
Leckie revealed it was a rumour that circulated in a newspaper last season that first alerted his management to possible interest from Hertha.
"Last winter, the newspaper said I was a candidate for Hertha BSC. I heard the rumour for the first time. My advisor came into contact with the club a bit later, but I was concentrating on Ingolstadt at that time," Leckie said in an interview published on the club's official website. "It was only towards the end of the season - especially in the past two weeks - that talks became more intense.
"I met with Michael Preetz and (manager) Pal Dardai last Monday for the first time. We talked in detail. I was very happy afterwards because I felt that the club is really interested in me. Now I am back in Berlin."
The 26 year-old Socceroos star revealed he had numerous offers, but the lure of UEFA Europa League football for the sixth-place Berlin club proved to be a decisive factor.
"I had several offers," he said. "Hertha struck out for several reasons: Hertha is a big, fantastic Bundesliga club. The past two seasons the club was very successful. Now the club will play in the Europa League. Berlin is also one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. I also think that Pál Dárdai is a great coach, of whom I can still learn a lot."
