The Truth in the Poker for Maza

The ball as a friend: Ibrahim Maza has been Hertha's greatest talent for years. IMAGO/Matthias Koch

He put his cap over his face and had to hold back the tears. On the pitch, his teammates tried to avoid another defeat. On the bench, Ibrahim Maza, who had just been substituted, suffered with every fibre of his being. Images like the one that could be seen in the final phase of the home game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (0:1) just over two weeks ago, document the 19-year-old's connection to his club.

He also reacted with his heart at the end of the last winter transfer window. AC Milan and FC Porto got serious shortly before the deadline. Maza had two concrete and highly attractive offers - and turned them down from both clubs. Milan, which was heavily courting Maza, signed left wingers Riccardo Sottil (AC Florence) and Joao Felix (FC Chelsea) on loan on February 3, in addition to striker Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord Rotterdam) and midfielder Warren Bondo (AC Monza).

The criticism that has flared up in some quarters since then that Hertha's sporting director Benjamin Weber and Andreas "Zecke Neuendorf, the director of the academy and licensed players' division, had decided against taking in 20 million euros, is pointless. After Maza's rejection of Milan, Hertha's sporting bosses did not receive any offer on the table that would have been worth considering in those turbulent hours on the home stretch of the transfer period. Well-informed circles also put the actual amount of the planned offer from the top Italian club lower. In the event that Maza had given his go-ahead, a package with a base transfer fee of around 15 million euros plus bonuses was apparently prepared. In this case, the capital club, which must again achieve a transfer surplus in the double-digit millions in the summer of 2025, would probably neither have been able to say no nor would have said no.

Milan as a future employer does not seem to be off the table for the summer either. The interest of VfB Stuttgart, who wanted to sign Maza in the summer of 2024 and offered around 6 million euros, is unbroken, and the interest of champions Bayer Leverkusen is on record. A third Bundesliga club is now said to have entered the poker game. In addition, clubs from Spain (including Atletico Madrid), England (including Leicester, Newcastle, Nottingham, West Ham) and Italy have been courting Hertha's homegrown player for months. According to information from kicker, there is no reported fixed exit clause of 9.5 million euros for the summer of 2025.

The exit option anchored in the contract is said to be complex and to provide for various transfer models in great detail for various scenarios and points in time of signing. Maza's performance in the current season plays a role as a factor, as does Hertha's performance in the 2nd division, the home country of the new club and its current sporting performance, including a possible European Cup participation in 2025/26. Maza's selection career, who decided against the DFB last autumn and made his debut for the Algerian national team in October, is also a parameter.

Market insiders expect that the actual transfer fee - assuming Hertha stays in the league - will end up being in the double-digit million range. Maza, who moved from the Reinickendorfer Füchse to Hertha's academy in 2016, is said to favor staying in Germany. However, Hertha's top talent, who extended his contract with the second division club by a year early until 2027 last August, has not yet made a decision.