Despite recent comments made by Alejandro Grimaldo, Bayer Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes has no intention of selling the Spaniard this summer. This comes after an interview with Marca in which the 28-year-old stated that he would one day like to play in La Liga. Coming through Barcelona’s youth teams, Grimaldo never played a first team game for the Catalan club before joining Portuguese side Benfica in 2016.
Now a member of the Spanish national team owing to his performances for Bayer Leverkusen this season, Grimaldo commented on the German club’s historic campaign: “What I want are titles. We are close to winning the Europa League, and the cup. Winning the Bundesliga is historic, but winning a treble would be crazy,” he told Marca – via Kicker.
But Grimaldo also has ambitions to play football in Spain. Grimaldo added: “It is one of my goals to play in La Liga in the future because it’s my country.”
Simon Rolfes doesn’t worry about Grimaldo’s comments
But while Grimaldo’s comments may raise eyebrows, Rolfes doesn’t see them as a problem. Speaking to Kicker, Leverkusen’s sporting director said: “The fact that he basically wants to play in his home country again in his career is not dramatic. Many players who play abroad have this wish.”
With a contract at Bayer Leverkusen until 2027, Rolfes has no intention of selling Grimaldo in the summer: “We are 100 percent planning with him for next season.”
In what’s a historic season for Bayer Leverkusen, winning their first ever Bundesliga title and ending Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance, Grimaldo has been a standout performer for Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard has scored 11 and created 16 in 41 games across all competitions for Die Werkself this season.
