Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson has told The Bristol Post that the club fined striker Jonathan Kodjia two weeks’ wages a few weeks before he left to sign for Aston Villa. This was because he asked not to play in the EFL Cup tie away to Scunthorpe United earlier in the season.
This is the maximum amount that the football club could have financially disciplined the player. Head coach Lee Johnson did name Kodjia among the substitutes for the mentioned cup tie, but his intention was never to select his then star-man from the bench.
Former Barnsley boss Johnson revealed the news in an interview with the source, saying that interest in the 26-year-old Ivory Coast international began to significantly intensify in the days prior to the match at Glanford Park,
“There was interest in Jonathan throughout the summer, but it became serious in the couple of days leading up to the Scunthorpe game.”
“I was really disappointed that he asked me not to play in that game. I wanted to cover it up by putting him on the bench, but I was never going to bring him on.
“As someone with a real passion for Bristol City, it was tough. But I had to be careful not to devalue the player. It’s not ideal, it’s not professional and he was fined two weeks’ wages.”
During his time at Ashton Gate, the talented forward netted 20 goals for the club and featured in all of their league games this season so far, prior to the Aston Villa match, where he was left out altogether. He joined for £2million, before being sold on for a reportedly fee of £11million.
Johnson highlighted that the culture in France is different to here in the UK, and that Kodjia was very emotional around that time. He wouldn’t go as far to criticise the player, saying he did an excellent job on the pitch for the football club, which ultimately saw him become the most expensive Championship player in history. Johnson also highlighted the fact he went through a similar situation when he was a player at Yeovil Town, shortly before he moved to Scotland to join Hearts.
