YLE reported this week that Litmanen has an open offer of a coaching position at Dutch giants Ajax, another of his former clubs, if he decides to hang up his boots. The ever-green talisman of Finnish football does not yet want to take that option, and there is interest from both him and HJK in signing a new contract. HJK were not counting any chickens about Litmanen’s arrival.
“We haven’t discussed anything beyond this week,” HJK’s Sporting Director Tuomo Saarnio told YLE. “We’re going to be in Marbella until next Tuesday, and that’s the only thing we’ve decided. Everything else comes after that. During the week it will become clearer as we have time to hold talks, and after that we’ll be a bit wiser.”
The club is, though, interested in signing Litmanen.
“He certainly wouldn’t be here if HJK didn’t interest Litmanen and Litmanen HJK,” said Saarnio.
FC Lahti fans are not happy about the potential transfer. The club has built a strong rivalry with HJK in recent years, and the club’s fans are upset that a Lahti football legend might leave to play for a club they consider as an arch-rival.
“Many people already thought this would happen when Jari said the travel between Tallinn and Lahti was too difficult (when he announced he wouldn’t play for Lahti),” says Lahti fan Kai Kuokkanen. “Helsinki is in between, and some were already afraid this would happen. Yes, it feels bad and annoying that this would happen.”
“There have been some quite hard comments,” adds Kuokkanen. “Some guy on the internet said he was going to go to the Litmanen statue (at Lahti’s Kisapuisto stadium) and break the ankles. I don’t know how serious he was, but I’ve heard some really harsh comments.”
