Nikola Maksimovic is on strike with Torino over a transfer to Napoli, as Sinisa Mihajlovic promises: 'He'll pay for this'.
The Serbian central defender was trying to favour a move to the Partenopei, but nobody expected a move as radical as going completely AWOL, allegedly taking a plane back to his home country without informing anyone.
Nikola Maksimovic is on strike with Torino over a transfer to Napoli, as Sinisa Mihajlovic promises: 'He'll pay for this'.
The Serbian central defender was trying to favour a move to the Partenopei, but nobody expected a move as radical as going completely AWOL, allegedly taking a plane back to his home country without informing anyone.
Today marks the fourth day that Maksimovic has skipped training without justification and refused to answer all phone calls, and the Granata are considering their course of action.
A penalty in the order of a few tens of thousands of euros seems likely, although this will probably not hinder the final sale. Napoli are expected to pick up the player for €25m, partly to be covered in bonus payments.
“I don't know whether Maksimovic is making a mistake of his own accord or whether he's being ill-advised, and frankly I don't give a damn,” Mihajlovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “He'll pay the consequences of this behaviour. We suffered damages that will be evaluated by the club.
“His memory has some problems. I'm the one who gave him his debut with the national team, and only a few weeks ago I'd spoken clearly to him, from one Serbian to another.
“It was thanks to my intercession that the club guaranteed a raise in his salary, and a favourable situation in case of a future sale. I told him that if he followed me, then next year he'd be pursued by Europe's top clubs.
“He assured me he was happy to stay. I based my word on that, and he vanishes like this and then expects to be sold?
“I've been betrayed as a man, not as a Coach. For me, the man comes before the player. But he betrayed everyone: the club, the team, the fans and the Coach.
“Now it's the club's move, because Maksimovic has a contract and he can't decide his destiny all by himself. If he chooses to stay, then he'll have to regain my faith twice: as a man, and then as a footballer.”