Bloomfield admits Solbakken's comments 'didn't help' after Norway boss told Aasgaard to leave Luton

Midfielder was told he had to leave Kenilworth Road to feature for his country

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield didn’t hide his frustration with Norway manager Ståle Solbakken after insisting his public comments regarding midfielder Thelo Aasgaard’s World Cup hopes being over if he stayed at Kenilworth Road ‘didn’t help’ following his move to Scottish Premier League side Rangers this afternoon.

Having played for his country extensively at U16, U20 and U21 level prior to moving to Luton in the January transfer window, Aasgaard then won his first senior international cap during a World Cup qualifying 5-0 win over Moldova in March, the debutant scoring and gaining an assist. Withdrawn just after the hour mark, the 23-year-old had been selected in the following few squads without featuring again, but domestically, despite scoring twice in 17 outings for Town, couldn’t help stave off relegation from the Championship after a last day 5-3 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

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At Norway’s next international camp, Stolbakken made it public that to have any chance of representing the country of his dad’s birth at the World Cup to be jointly held by America, Canada and Mexico next year, he had to leave Luton as playing in League One wasn’t a high enough level to earn him selection, a claim he then repeated later as well, in a bid to get Aasgaard to move away from Bedfordshire.

Norway head coach Stale Solbakken - pic: Stu Forster/Getty Imagesplaceholder image
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken - pic: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Speaking to a number of Norwegian news outlets, Solbakken, who was sacked by Wolverhampton Wanderers side after they suffered a shock FA Cup exit to Luton, then a non-league side, back in 2013, had said: “League One is too low a level. Championship is no problem, with his development that level is good enough, but with League One, that's where it stops. There are many leagues he can play in. Luton were in a difficult situation when Thelo changed clubs, but it goes without saying that it is difficult to play for the national team if you play in League One. He knows this.”

With the 57-year-old now getting his wish, and Aasgaard moving north of the border after agreeing a switch to Ibrox, asked what he felt about Solbakken taking his demands public, Bloomfield said: “The desire from his international manager for him to move on as well certainly didn’t help, but we understand the situation and we have to focus on our future now.

“If it wasn’t that situation there might have been a chance of us persuading him to stay, but when there’s a pressure on him, with a World Cup looming next summer, it obviously made it tough for me to persuade him to stay when he knew he needed to move to have a chance of taking part in that World Cup. So it’s tough when you’re trying to build a squad and a culture and a team, when he’s being encouraged to move by his international manager, but that was the situation we were faced with.”

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Bloomfield also revealed that to secure his signature from the Latics six months ago, the club had inserted a clause in his contract that meant he was able to look elsewhere if the Hatters went down, allowing Rangers to take advantage. He continued: “In order to sign him in January we agreed to a conditional release clause – something that this club has only ever done in exceptional circumstances – which only got triggered in the event we played League One football this season.

“This meant the move was entirely his choice and if it wasn’t for his international manager’s comments, that he needed to be playing at a certain level of football to go to the World Cup, we may have been able to persuade him to stay, but the fee was met and his future success will benefit the club greatly going forward. Ultimately it was probably inevitable that was going to happen, the amount of interest there was in him.

"It’s probably a little bit bittersweet for us. We’re obviously disappointed to see Thelo go, of course we are, but it’s also a proud moment for the football club to take a boy from League One in January and within six months he’s made his international debut, he’s scored, he’s got a transfer to an incredible football club who are playing in a Champions League qualifier.

"We’re proud of what he’s gone on to achieve in the short time that he’s been with us, but we are obviously disappointed to see Thelo go and unfortunately, after our relegation, there was an air of inevitability that he would be highly-sought after. I’d like to thank Thelo as well because he’s been great for us. He’s acted with integrity for every moment he’s been with us and on the way out too, he’s been a diamond of a boy.”

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