I’m spending a lot of time translating Swedish websites at the moment, and I hit the jackpot today, with an interview in which transfer target Erik Ring opens up about his potential move to the Imps.
AIK beat Djurgårdens 2-0 in the Stockholm derby over the weekend, with Ring an unused substitute during the encounter. The 22-year-old is eager to find first-team football, despite the offer of a new deal at AIK.
After the game, Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen discussed the possibility of a move with both Ring and, first, the club’s sporting director, Thomas Berntsen.
“I cannot name specific clubs, but we are in dialogue with a club regarding a sale of Erik,” said Berntsen, confirming the interest. “So we’ll see in a day or two if that happens. I’m actually going to talk to him after training today
“It is up to Erik how he wants to do it. Erik is welcome to sign a longer contract with AIK. If he chooses to move, he is always welcome back to AIK. He is a great person and a great player. Whatever he chooses, we support him in it.”
That puts the ball firmly in the player’s court, but it didn’t confirm that we are the club eyeing a swoop for him. Luckily, Ring confirmed that to be the case, admitting he had visited the city and the training ground and was impressed with what he saw.
“It was a nice city. Very good conditions with a nice training facility, good grass and several pitches,” said the 22-year-old, who has represented his country twice at the Under 21 level.
“I love being in AIK. I love the club. It’s nice that there is interest from Lincoln. It’s a good team and a better league than many people think.
“There are a lot of good teams in that division. But, as Thomas said, it’s up to me. We’ll see how it turns out.”
When then asked what he was leaning toward, his short answer was ‘we’ll see‘.
The key factor may be the desire to play first team football. Ring is on the fringes at AIK, but was a key player for Helsinborgs last season, something he also discussed in the interview.
“Playing time is very important,” added the winger, who would likely be converted to a left wing-back. “It was the same when I was on loan last time (in Helsingborg), I got to play a lot and grew a lot as a player and a person. I’m in very important years now where I really want to play games.”
It seems as though a decision will be made by the player over the next couple of days, and while it’s hard to pick up an inference when translating from Swedish, it does feel like we have more than a 50% chance of completing a deal.
Given the injury to Reeco Hackett, there’s every chance Ring would have time to establish himself in the wing-back role, especially with the uncertainty over Dylan Duffy. I was also told by a club insider that any signings from the continent would be ‘key’ signings, as we wouldn’t use up our allotted spaces for such players on projects or squad players.