By Peter Weis @PeterVicey
VfB Stuttgart confirmed a loan-out for Portuguese left-back/winger Gil Dias on Monday afternoon.
VfB Stuttgart have loaned sparsely-used Portuguese midfielder Gil Dias out to Legia Warsaw for the duration of the season. Germany’s Kicker Magazine reports that the Swabians have secured a loan fee of €200,000 as part of the arrangement. Additionally, there is a purchase obligation of €1 million should the Polish league runners-up wish to utilize it.
Dias was purchased by Stuttgart for €1 million during the January 2022 transfer window. Then VfB trainer Bruno Labbadia thought highly of the then Benfica professional. Dias made seven league and one cup appearance under Labbadia’s coaching regime, usually deployed on his unnatural right-hand-side. The 26-year-old netted one tally in the league and one in the Pokal.
Despite his success under Labbadia, Dias didn’t factor into the plans of trainer Sebastian Hoeneß. The Württemberg-based club had been attempting to offload him all summer and were finally able to do so courtesy of the fact that the transfer window remains open in neighboring Poland. Dias will play under former Darmstadt, Duisburg, Kaiserslautern, and 1860 München head-coach Kosta Runjaic.
“Gil did not need long to get going,” VfB sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth noted in a club statement, “He scored important goals for us in the league and cup practically as soon as he joined. Later on, things didn’t continue along the same course for him. Nevertheless, he has remained a team player at all times.”