football
Austria Klagenfurt’s Markus Pink is moving to Shanghai Port FC in the Chinese league with immediate effect. The Admiral Bundesliga club confirmed the departure of the captain and goalscorer on Sunday afternoon during the game against Red Bull Salzburg.
Pink was no longer in the squad of the Carinthians. The 32-year-old currently leads the league’s goalscoring charts with 16 goals. Marko Arnautovic was under contract with Shanghai from 2019 to 2021.
Pink would have been a free transfer in the summer. According to information from ORF Kärnten, the transfer fee is 200,000 euros. An extension beyond the summer was apparently not feasible for Austria.
Dream of playing football abroad
“It’s no secret that we would have liked to have extended the expiring contract with ‘Pinki’ beyond the summer and also included him in our club after his active career. He made the decision early on not to accept this offer,” said Managing Director Matthias Imhof.
From a sporting point of view, the departure hurts, “but we can’t afford to ignore the economic aspect,” says Imhof. The Klagenfurt received a transfer fee. Pink said in a broadcast from Klagenfurt: “It was always my dream as a footballer to get to know another country and another league. I’m looking forward to it and will of course continue to follow Austria closely as a fan.”