Fans of FC Kylle woke up this morning to learn that a club favorite, Chritopher Wien, will be sold. The final details are yet to be arranged, but it looks already like the sale of the quiet, industrious CDF will be one of the largest in FC Kylle's history.

Despite the Copenhagen outfit's controlled descent into the lower leagues of the game, there had been hope among fans that Wien's young age would mean he would be part of the revival. It also means fans can now expect one or two additional large player sales as the club marches, wealthily, towards the intended destination of division 5.

Manager sicox86 prepared a short statement for the media on the sale.

"It's of course unfortunate to lose a talent such as Chritopher. The choice to sell him has not been an easy one, but it is one made with the interests of all parties at heart. We extend our gratitude for his service and professionalism over the years, and we wish Chritopher well with his new employers."

The statement says all the right things, but shows a very telling lack of warmth.

Wien's story is one of adversity. From his very beginnings, he was woefully behind his peers in terms of his development. At €40m, bringing Wien to the club was perhaps not the greatest gamble sicox86 could have taken, but there were still raised eyebrows when the gangly 16-year-old German, 28avg, was presented to the media. His talent, it seems, was one of the best-kept secrets among FC Kylle's coaching staff. Wien worked hard from the outset to try to catch players the same age as him. Reaching 80avg for a (usually slower-developing) CDF within 3 full seasons was a great achievement for Wien and FC Kylle, but everyone knew that for an 18/19-year-old this was hardly stellar. What set Wien apart was his ability to continue the trajectory after 80avg. Three loans in three seasons gave Wien the experience he needed to develop into a fine CDF, returning to the club a 91avg 21-year-old. It was at this time FC Kylle enacted its controlled freefall plan. For Wien, a player with ambitions of performing at the top level, this was a disaster. Far from being a prodigal son, returning to carry his team forward into the upper echelons of Div 2, Wien was now an expensive deadweight, close to reaching his sell-by date.

The move to sell Wien will be disappointing for the large number of fans who want anything but the controlled freefall approach. Wien, along with Neto and Lima, stands as a relic of a different era. All three are still young enough and good enough to not only help FC Kylle to re-join the upper leagues, but also to enjoy success there, too. However, one must remember that the reason for the freefall is financial. Wien's departure was inevitable on this basis alone. He has likely reached his peak in terms of value, or at least FC Kylle believes so. Paying his wages on a Div4 or Div5 income will become a struggle for the club, and works counter to the freefall argument. Collectively, Wien's salary and that of Neto and Lima is around 13% of the weekly ticket revenues. In Div5, this number would be significantly higher. In essence, Wien's very existence became inconvenient for the club he loved. FC Barcelona now knows all about this! Now was the time to cash in.
Wien's ability to keep progressing means he deserves to be playing competitive football at a decent level. While FC Kylle can certainly expect silverware in its very near future, as it plans to reverse the freefall and rise immediately through Div5 to Div3, playing system bots in empty stadiums will not be what Wien deserves.
Lastly, just as they did all those seasons ago, FC Kylle must look to the future. Bindewald and Mulder look ready to step up, and the youth team shows more promise.

That the young starlet should be in this position of having to come to terms with this deadweight status is through no fault of his own. Casualties were always likely with such a nuclear strategy as the freefall, but FC Kylle's leadership, despite the hard efforts of its coaching staff, must carry most of the burden of the broad disappointment that will come from knowing that such a good player was never fully given a fair shot in FC Kylle's colors. Worse players have achieved much, much more, and this will have stung for Wien over the last couple of seasons as much as it stings the fans this morning. Bindewald and Mulder will have the chance to gain the fans' adulation and win silverware and stay put, while Wien was constantly farmed out on loan, rarely put on the FC Kylle shirt in any kind of meaningful game and leaves without a club honor to his name, on a tide of good-riddance. As much as FC Kylle did to build the player, you could argue, they also did to destroy his spirit.

A discontented fan outside the stadium said:
"I can't believe it. How can we train a CDF to 93, almost 94 avg, bench him for over a season, and let him go before he's even really shown what he can do? Mark my words, this guy can play in Div1. He can add 2-3 more avg to where he is today. We've been told to have faith with the club - to be patient - but this one really doesn't make any sense to me".

Wien will go down in the club's history alongside Parodi and Prado as one of the greatest CDF prospects the defense academy has produced. However, his legacy at FC Kylle will unfortunately be unwritten.