Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Pal Dardai happy at Hertha Berlin amid Wolfsburg speculation

Hertha Berlin coach Pal Dardai has played down speculation linking him with Wolfsburg but is open to moving on in the future.

On Thursday, kicker reported that Wolfsburg approached Dardai, 40, through a middleman, but that the Hungarian was not interested.

Speaking to Bild on Friday, Dardai confirmed approaches from other parties in recent weeks. "Five or six agents contacted me recently and talked about lucrative offers," he said.

"You have to see what the future brings. I am on a one-year deal here, and will sit down with sporting director Michael Preetz in spring. If both sides are satisfied, things will always continue in Berlin.

Dardai played for the club since the late 1990s, and was made Hertha's first team coach in early 2015 after previously working for the club's youth department, and he believes he still has a job to finish in Germany's capital.

"I work at Hertha, my heart belongs to this club," he said. "But it's also a fact that as a coach, just like a player, you can't stay at one club for over 15 years. That's why you always must work hard to receive good offers."

Last month, Wolfsburg sacked their coach Dieter Hecking, who had been unable to stop the club's decline since Kevin De Bruyne's transfer to Manchester City in 2015.

Wolfsburg are currently coached by former Bayern Munich player Valerien Ismael who was promoted from the club's reserve team, and are still looking for a permanent solution.

Wolfsburg have also been linked with Andre Villas-Boas, who yesterday joined Shanghai SIPG, and former Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia.

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