After steadfastly rejecting two contract offers from Rosenborg in the last six months, Ole Sæter is expected to leave Lerkendal during the winter transfer window.

But when Casper Tengstedt left Gran Canaria on Tuesday night for Portugal and Benfica for up to NOK 120 million, it breathed new life into Sæter’s contract situation.

However, RBK CEO Kjetil Rekdal was very clear in his speech.

– I can say that Ole Sæter’s demands will never be met in this world, because they go far beyond what we rightly think he should have as an offer. That something can theoretically be moved, maybe you shouldn’t ignore it, but it should be a signal that there is an attempt to agree. We are not close to that yet, Rekdal told TV 2.

When we caught up with Ole Sæter in the sun on Gran Canaria on Wednesday morning, the man from Trønder told us he wasn’t making any crazy requests.

– No, I do not have. I thought me, Kjetil and Micke would do an internship. What was said in that case on my part has actually been said. I actually put it aside a bit, because it would not help me and my focus at all to argue with one or the other at the club about what I’m asking or demanding.

– My focus is on Rosenborg and making it the best in 2023, said Sæter.

Open for stay

The contract of the man who contributed 14 goals in Eliteserien last season has been extended until 2023.

Sæter clearly wants to continue in Lerkendal, also after 2023.

– Yes of course. As I’ve talked to a lot of people what I have here, I’m never going back. I’m Ole Sæter at Rosenborg. At other clubs I’m just a very good footballer. There’s something about having one’s identity here, says Sæter and explains:

– You have family, friends and clubs that you loved growing up, that you can represent and that are very important to you. So obviously I’m very open to it and I’ve been doing it for a long time. There’s never been anything from my side where I’ve closed anything. Then I know that the people around me will take care of it, so I can stay focused on what I need to do.

According to what TV 2 knows, it is not impossible that Rosenborg will now sit down with the striker and his representatives again.

But it doesn’t look like there will be a big upgrade over the previous offering.

– I can say with heart that the offer we made for Ole was excellent in today’s Rosenborg yardstick. So you can say that the salary may have been higher five years ago or it will be higher five years from now, but you have to be number one in Norway. Currently, Rosenborg is not number one in Norway in terms of financial or sporting results in recent years. We have to take that position back and we have to do it some other way than paying ourselves to death, said Rekdal.

– High in “salary ranking”

Sæter previously explained that the offers he received from the club were far below what he himself believed was feasible.

– The club also put a bit of pressure on me, when they made me an offer that was quite far from what a striker with 15 goals in his first season at the top level deserves, said Sæter when TV 2 caught up with him at Rosenborg’s first – training after the Christmas break.

Meanwhile, Rekdal claims that an offer from Rosenborg will make Sæter one of the best paid at the club.

– I have no problem with Ole being dissatisfied with the offer, which he thinks is too bad or he should have got more, but we have to face reality. On a salary ranking in our player base, Ole is very high on the offers he has received. Then it’s okay to say no, that’s how it works, says Rekdal.

What will be the end of the current visa is difficult to predict, but there is little doubt that both sides are open to new discussions.

– Yes, I definitely am, and I am completely from scratch. I’ve actually been very open about it to the club, that I love Rosenborg and want to stay. If we sign a contract, we do it, and if we don’t agree, we don’t agree, says Sæter.