Championship - Bodde signs Swansea deal

Eurosport - Tue, 15 Jul 14:12:00 2008

Derby target Ferrie Bodde has signed a new long-term contract at Swansea, admitting his "head had been turned" by the Rams.

FOOTBALL Swansea Ferrie Bodde - 0

The Dutchman has only been at the Swans for one season, but a string of impressive performances helped the Welsh side to the League One title and saw interest from several clubs, including West Brom and Middlesbrough.

Only Paul Jewell's side came in with concrete offers - including one at £1.5 million cash plus add-ons - but ambitious Swans boss Roberto Martinez held out for twice that amount.

"It's been a long nine weeks and my head has been all over the place,'' Bodde told the club website. "Yes, I've made mistakes along the way and I'd like to apologise to the Swans fans for all the uncertainty.

"I had my head turned by outside parties offering me the world and telling me that Derby was a bigger club because of their Premiership status last season."

During the protracted saga, the 26-year-old midfielder even went so far as to publicly ask that the transfer be concluded as soon as possible, but a return to pre-season training appears to have changed his mind.

"I was mixed up and thought Derby was a step forward," he explained.

"But having spent a long time thinking about it and meeting up with the squad again, I realise that 'bigger' isn't always 'better'.

"I love the club and I realise now that Swansea can be as big as it wants to be. The foundation is in place and there's a bright future ahead.

"Deep down I never wanted to leave Swansea because it's the club that gave me my chance in British football and the fans welcomed me and my family with open arms; but like I said, I had my head turned for a few weeks."

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 15 of 15

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  1. Seems there are a lot of misconceptions about the Swans' ability and style of play. Hopefully quite a few teams in the championship will have the same prejudices about us, which will see the Swans shock a few teams to start with. More than that, while the so called promotion favourites sign journeymen now well past their sell-by-date, Martinez continues to tie up the better players in the squad, or bring in new faces who adapt well and quickly. Lets not forget our new attacking full back who just joined from Espanyol eh? Bodde's class and understanding with the team will inevitably show - can he cut it? Surely Martinez and Paul Jewell are better placed to decide than "superdog"...? Unlike the "functional" favourites our club is financially stable, our ground is from this millenium, and most of all we play football. Consolidation would be great but playoffs more than possible.

    From nickcooksey, on Thu 17 Jul 12:46AM

  2. hahah you are a joke.

    dumb @#$%

    From superdog1989_2001, on Wed 16 Jul 7:24PM

  3. just shut ur face u prick

    From Chris C, on Wed 16 Jul 12:04PM

  4. you are pathetic and stupid..

    enjoy losing many games this season

    From superdog1989_2001, on Tue 15 Jul 11:56PM

  5. hahahhaha

    From superdog1989_2001, on Tue 15 Jul 11:56PM

  6. just wait and see u @#$% he'll prove himself in the championship and u know it,if u have'nt seen him play how would u know if he is good or not u twatbodde is the heart of the mids so he will be a big advenage to us and a disadvantage to u,u mupputt:):):)

    From reynoldstina31, on Tue 15 Jul 10:27PM

  7. lol woot... renoldstina31 knows nothing about football! U think just because bodde swayed things in league one he is a big name!!

    Idiot!

    From superdog1989_2001, on Tue 15 Jul 10:16PM

  8. ya,ya keep talking @#$% we have to wait and see and i bet we shock all of u :):):)not saying we're going to win every game but we wont just roll over for any1 just as long as we r stull playing the same football we will not be going back down

    From reynoldstina31, on Tue 15 Jul 10:16PM

  9. HaHaHa stright back down Jack...

    From tulip, on Tue 15 Jul 9:33PM

  10. i think you lot are deluded. the fizzy pop league isn't as easy as you think. when you start losing game after game, you might want to wish you were still in league one again. did you notice that he said we were a bigger club than cardiff......... sorry swansea. enjoy your one season in the championship swansea fans. back to league one for you.

    From DAVE, on Tue 15 Jul 8:53PM

  11. Nice one Swans. Bodde leaving would have been a huge disadvantage for the forthcoming season. Good job Martinez...now the playoffs!

    From nickcooksey, on Tue 15 Jul 5:33PM

  12. r u talking about swansea or darby paul?

    From reynoldstina31, on Tue 15 Jul 4:39PM

  13. mid table team

    From paul.dare2, on Tue 15 Jul 4:24PM

  14. sorry darby but u ant good enough lmfao

    From reynoldstina31, on Tue 15 Jul 2:33PM

  15. good man bodde no point in going to a club that is in @#$% and they know it because they going to pay for big names(ish) and going to break the bank just like the so called super leedslol u will know u picked the right club when we takes the championship by strom come on SWANSEA CITY

    From reynoldstina31, on Tue 15 Jul 2:27PM
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