Often Partisan

Sign him up?

As Sebastian Larsson left the pitch yesterday, the Tilton started a chorus of “sign him up”, in reference to one of the longest running sagas in Premiership football – the Seb Larsson contract situation. With just over a month left of the season, the Swedish winger has still yet to put pen to paper to prolong his stay with Blues, and as such it has to be assumed that come the start of the new season, Seb will be lining up for another team.

Sure, people say, the club don’t want to commit to anything just yet because they’re not sure what division the club will be in next season – but the club have had all season to thrash something out with Seb. Surely someone from the club and someone representing Seb could sit down, discuss terms and thrash something out? I mean, how hard is it to agree a new deal?

These were some of the questions Often Partisan put to Anders Carlsson of Northern Sky, the agency that represents Seb. Carlsson was adamant that the ball was in Blues’ court; that the club had had plenty of time to sort something out, and that they had messed Seb around. Carlsson was also pretty sure that Seb would be in high demand come the summer, and should Blues not make a satisfactory offer that it wouldn’t be a problem getting a deal for his client elsewhere. In short, Carlsson didn’t say much different to what has appeared in the Press here and in Sweden.

As persuasive as Mr Carlsson sounded, the point remains that Seb hasn’t signed a new deal since he originally signed for the club permanently in January 2007. As far as I can make out, Seb has only turned down one deal, which he was offered in June 2008, with Carlsson insisting that the figures weren’t anywhere near good enough for a player who was a mainstay in the first team. Often Partisan has seen written evidence that the terms offered weren’t anywhere near what was quoted on some messageboards and fan forums at the time; however Mr Carlsson made no mention to Often Partisan what Seb was actually looking for, and how hard he’d negotiated for that. There are two sides to every story and it was very apparent Mr Carlsson was only giving one.

When contacted, BCFC were happy to leave their position as that quoted on bcfc.com and by Colin Tattum. With important games such as the Sunderland fixture on Saturday, it’s likely the club wanted to retain focus on the field of play and on Premiership survival – something as a fan I can understand. As much as Larsson’s agents have complained to the press, Birmingham City have been consistent in saying that they will look at contracts once Premeirship survival is secured – and that goes for all players. As relegation would be very hard to take financially, this is prudent, and in all probability the only course of action to take.

And what has the man himself said? As always, Seb hasn’t said a word to the press; instead he’s taken to the field of play with a smile on his face, and concentrated on helping the club to ensure that they stay in the top flight. With safety looking more and more likely, I hope that Blues will consider offering the mercurial Swede a new deal; whether Seb would accept it however is something I truly don’t know.

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2 Responses to “Sign him up?”

  • MrMustard says:

    He was outstanding on Saturday. One of his best games for ages. If he really is on his way out – and I hope he isn’t – that demonstrated what a proper pro he is.

  • agents says:

    thx for interview with the agent. One thing though, did you really think he would say anything but his side of the story??

    Fact is the non signing of Seb will cost the club massive either if he signs a new deal or not….

    if he signs wages will be massive due the weak negotiaion point the club has.
    if he does not sign we get nothing but need to replace Seb and that will cost both a massive transfer fee and salaries….

    crazy to leave things this way…..


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