Another hit-and-missGerson Rodrigues released from Slovan Bratislava

Raphaël Ferber

The Luxembourg striker, who joined Slovan Bratislava on loan in February, was released from the contract before the end of the season. The club cited his behaviour as incompatible with top-level football.

Update: 05.05.2024 16:57

Gerson Rodrigues sous les couleurs du Slovan Bratislava face à Trencin, match au cours duquel l’attaquant luxembourgeois a inscrit son dernier but pour le club slovaque. C’était le 25 février dernier.

It’s becoming a recurring theme in the career of the Luxembourgish forward. Accustomed to short stints in his respective clubs and inevitably, wandering quite a bit in the football world, Gerson Rodrigues has evidently irked yet another club. Indeed, Slovan Bratislava announced on Friday, through a press release on the club’s website, that the contract of the Luxembourgish international forward had been terminated.

Slovakia’s most successful club did not beat about the bush to justify their decision. “He’s undeniably a top quality footballer. However, talent or quality are not enough if other qualities essential to professional football are lacking such as: discipline, professionalism and lifestyle. No player is above the team and the club,” writes Ivan Kmotrík Jr, the club’s managing director, who stresses that he is “sorry it happened this way.”

“We were seeking ways to reach a mutually agreeable solution for the early termination of Gerson’s contract, which we managed to achieve. Gerson was with us on loan, not for a permanent transfer, so we were able to resolve the issue without causing harm to the club,” concluded the club’s general manager.

Since last February, Rodrigues was on loan at Slovan Bratislava from Dynamo Kiev (to whom he has belonged since 2020, with an option to buy. The Luxembourgish forward only took three months to fall out with the Slovak club’s management. In fact, he had not appeared with the club’s jersey since 13 March, 2024, during a national cup match against Podbrezova where he received a red card.

In total, Gerson Rodrigues played 8 matches, including 4 league games, 2 Slovak Cup matches, and 2 European Cup matches, scoring 5 goals (including 1 in the European Cup) with Slovan Bratislava.

This contract termination in Slovakia recalls Gerson Rodrigues’ other short-lived adventures, such as his time at Troyes in Ligue 1 where he only played about ten matches (21/22).

Since leaving the Luxembourgish league in 2017, the forward has worn the colors of Telstar (Netherlands, 17/18), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova, 2018), Jubilo Iwata (Japan, 2019), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine, 19/20, 20/21, 21/22), Ankaragücü (Turkey, 19/20), Troyes (France, 21/22), Eyüpspor (Turkey, 21/22), Al-Wehda (Saudi Arabia, 22/23), Sivasspor (Turkey, 23/24), and now Slovan Bratislava (23/24). That’s 10 foreign clubs in 7 years.

Gerson Rodrigues is expected to return to Dynamo Kiev, where his contract will run until June 2025 - for now.