Accra Hearts of Oak have resigned to losing the services of their stalwart defender, Robin Gnagne, who is not keen on extending his contract at the end of the season.
The Phobians insist that the one-year deal the player signed with Hearts has a clause which mandates him to sign for another year if the club does not receive any offer for his services from abroad within the period.
However, the Ivorian import, after serving for four years, is bent on leaving Hearts for greener pastures in the Gulf or Europe when his current deal, which sees him pocketing $500 a month, runs out.
The 22-year-old has fallen out of favour with demoted coach, Sergio Traguil, and the management of the club, who are said to be doubting an injury which has ruled him out of action in recent weeks.
Indeed, the club has been unaware of the whereabout of the player since then and merely communicates with him through his manager.
However, the Administrative Manager of Hearts, Hackman Aidoo, insists that the clause in Gnagne’s last contract means Hearts fans can rest easy even though management has been unable to communicate directly with the player.
“Robin’s contract is such that it’s not just as simple as people may think,” Mr Aidoo told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview.
“We were to enter into a two-year contract and because he was expecting a foreign transfer, we agreed that he does one and in case he doesn’t travel outside, he extends by another year.
“He was not training; and at a point he complained of injuries and people even thought he was faking it so he was not making himself available for games and, before we realised, he was out of the city and we didn’t even know where he was.,” he noted.
“We have spoken to his manager and I got to know that he will be back in Accra today. But whatever it is, when you get a copy of the contract you will realise that he cannot just walk out of Hearts of Oak like that because we all agreed for two years and we put it in the contract that, since he was expecting to move out, should he fail to move out the contract will be automatically renewed for one year”.
He explained that Gnagne’s manager said the player left Accra to seek herbal treatment for his injury problems but would hold talks with the club on his return.
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