The end after 9 years in the Bundesliga! Vladimir Darida leaves Hertha Berlin to join Brabec in Greece

Berlin Hertha decided to start gradually slimming down their squad before the season. They have now also included former Czech national team captain Vladimir Darida in the expendables column. He will extend his stay abroad and is heading to Greece to replace Jakub Brabec.

He was far from being an indispensable man in the Berlin club’s starting line-up. The author of 224 Bundesliga starts played only four times in the autumn, for a total of 76 minutes.

In the league, he only came on as a substitute for the final minutes. He played once in the German Cup. However, the very high salary weighed on Hertha’s management and therefore they decided not to extend the expiring contracts at the end of this season.

One of the players who should have learned this information was Darida. He didn’t hesitate and together with his agent they started to discuss the future of the 32-year-old midfielder.

Darida is already in his ninth year in the top German league. In 2013, he left Viktoria Plzeň for Freiburg, from where he headed to Hertha in the summer of 2015. He has played 192 games for Darida, scoring 16 goals and making 29 assists.

The former national team captain retired from the national team after last year’s European Championships and Viktoria Plzen were already keen on his services before this season. However, Darida will extend his foreign engagement.

Greek media reported that the Czech midfielder will sign for 2.5 years with Aris Thessaloniki, for whom another former Viktoria Plzeň player, stopper Jakub Brabec, is playing.

A photo with the president of Aris Thessaloniki, Theodoros Karypidis, has already appeared on social media and the official introduction should take place in the next few days.

Aris Thessaloniki is currently sixth in the Greek league table and is fighting for the group title. If everything can be arranged, Darida could make his first appearance in his new jersey on 21 December, when Aris plays at Levadiakos.

Sources: Kicker, Twitter