Former Huddersfield Town, Sunderland and Brentford man makes surprise move away from Birmingham City
Former Huddersfield Town playmaker Alex Pritchard has left Birmingham City to join Turkish outfit Sivasspor.
Pritchard only joined Birmingham in the winter window, departing Sunderland under a cloud to seal a move to the Blues. He had refused to play for the Black Cats ahead of his reunion with Tony Mowbray at St Andrew’s.
However, the move did not quite work out and Pritchard’s impact was minimal as Birmingham battled in vain to retain their Championship status. The 31-year-old has now left England for a fresh challenge in Turkey, signing a two-year contract at the New Sivas 4 Eylül Stadium.
After putting pen to paper, in an interview translated from Turkish, Pritchard said: “I would like to thank Gökhan Karagöl Bey and my managers who made an effort in this transfer. I want to do my best in the upcoming period and be successful in my new adventure. I will be playing outside England for the first time in my career.
"I want to play outside and add new things to myself. I will do my best. I am very excited right now and I can't wait to face our fans. There was interest in me last year too, but that football did not happen. The Turkish League is also a very strong and competitive league. We will do our best to go to Europe.”
Pritchard made 83 appearances during his time at Huddersfield, scoring three goals and registering two assists.
Speaking at Pritchard’s unveiling, the club’s vice-president Bahattin Eken said: “We are happy to add Alex Pritchard, one of the talented players of English football, to the Sivasspor family. The transfer of Alex Pritchard, which we made great efforts to add to our squad with the support of our fans on social media with the “come to Sivasspor” posts during the last season’s mid-season break, could not be realised at that time.
"We contacted Alex again at the end of the season and finalised this transfer. Alex Pritchard is a name known for his performance in his football career, his fighting spirit and game intelligence. We have full confidence that he will make great contributions to our team on and off the field. We are sure that Alex will make significant contributions to Sivasspor’s success with his experience and talents.
"I would like to thank Gökhan Karagöl, who made great efforts during the transfer process, and everyone who contributed. At the same time, I would like to thank our fans for their patience and support during this process. As Sivasspor, we are working to be successful in the league. By adding quality players like Alex Pritchard to our squad, we are taking an important step towards achieving these goals."