Pál Dárdai: I’m not going anywhere just for money

At a press conference on Monday to mark the fifth Sport and Innovation Conference and an exhibition of photographs by sports photographer Ferenc Németh, who died in 2013, Dárdai told the public media that as a player, coach of the senior team and professional manager of youth teams, this period in his life was a "give-and-take relationship".

"I had a successful football period at Hertha, and as a coach, I made a lot of money for the club. In addition, as a youth coach, we made the academy from nothing to the best one with a few people. When people say that I got a big severance package, a jackpot, I tend to think about these things. I don't feel I'm missing anything, sooner or later everything comes to an end, everyone knows that. I haven't really worked in the youth game for a long time, only half a year, and then six or seven years have gone by since I was out of it. That was the decision of sporting director Fredi Bobič, which we, the family and I, accepted completely,” he said. He also added that he still supports his sons Márton and Bence, who play for Hertha, and attends the Mol Fehérvár matches, where his eldest son Pál plays. As he said, "he is not broken."

"A lot of the people I worked with are no longer there. It would have been a strange environment for me to some extent," he disclosed.

Dárdai stated that he had not yet been approached by Bundesliga clubs, but foreign clubs had already shown interest in him.

"These offers always come and go. For the moment, I don't feel the motivation of wanting to be a coach tomorrow. The only thing that could change that would be if a phone call came in that would move you a little bit, that would say you have some connection with. It could be Siófok because I really like being in Zamárdi, or any other big or small team. I just want to feel that yes, I want to do this, and I can do it. But I'm not going anywhere just for money," he explained.

He is a frequent visitor to Mol Fehérvár and, when time permits, DAC Dunajská Streda matches. However, he is not there to be on the bench as a coach but because he loves the sport and both clubs have a family atmosphere in which he feels very comfortable.

Dárdai was previously employed by the Berlin club as a player, and between 1997 and 2011, he played 286 Bundesliga matches, which is a club record. Following his retirement, he worked at Hertha's youth team and then served two terms as head coach of the senior team (2015-2019 and from January to November 2021). In the latter case, he was only replaced, but his employment contract remained intact until last week. According to press reports, he received a seven-figure severance package, which Bobič called a speculation only.