China star Fan Zhendong’s new manager ‘excited for the future’ with paddler in Dusseldorf
Olympic champion will join Bundesliga team in July after successful stint at 1. FC Saarbrucken, which included a historic treble
Borussia Dusseldorf manager Andreas Preuss admitted that new signing Fan Zhendong would be an inspiration to his teammates and table tennis fans around the world and he is “really excited for the future”.
“We will have a top player in our team who inspires us. The other players will look at him and will learn from him. This is the sports part,” he said. “On the other hand, Fan has a very nice personality. He will inspire many, many sports fans all over the world.
“He gives light to our club because he is a big brand. We are also a big brand, but he is even bigger, and so we will all improve and profit from this – in media, in sponsoring, in merchandising, in marketing, and in bringing world-class table tennis to the fans all over the world.
“I expect a lot of action, a lot of fire, a lot of adventurous things. I’m really excited for the future.”
Last summer, German table tennis legend Timo Boll ended his illustrious career at Dusseldorf, just before former world No 1 Fan signed for Saarbrucken, and Preuss said the Chinese star could be the biggest signing of all, from an international perspective.