Three months is not a long time in football. It is barely enough time to learn everyone’s coffee order, never mind understand the full rhythm of a club. And yet, in these three months at FC Chur, I feel like I have lived a full season of lessons. The departure of Ilan Tomic is one of them.

When I arrived, my relationship with Iñaki Arriola was one of professional respect. Today, I would call it ideological alignment. We see development the same way. We believe in building footballers, not just using them. We believe in progression that has roots. We believe that no player is bigger than the collective structure that allows them to grow. That belief is tested when a player like Ilan leaves.

His move to Stuttgart, in a deal that could reach €13 million, is enormous for a club of Chur’s size: €10m more than our previous record sale. It is the kind of transfer that changes what is possible. It validates the work being done here. It shows young players that this pathway is real. It shows Europe that something serious is happening in this corner of Graubünden. But development people do not only see the numbers.

We see the unfinished details. The extra steps that could have been taken. The next layers that were waiting to be built. Was Ilan ready to leave? Maybe not. Was he ready for his opportunity? Absolutely. These are not the same thing.

For three months I worked closely with him, and what I saw was a perfectionist. A player who wanted to understand every movement, every detail, every small advantage he could gain. The kind of player development staff love because they turn conversations into improvements. Losing that daily process is what I will miss most. The dressing room felt his departure as well. There was disappointment. Some silence. That is natural when a reference point disappears so quickly. Now part of my job changes. Development is not only about preparing players for the future, it is also about stabilising the present.

Ruben Gonzalez is now adapting to a bigger responsibility. Valerio Christen returns from his loan with a different kind of pressure than the one he left with. They will share minutes. They will share expectations. They may not be completely ready yet, but development rarely waits for perfect timing. We also brought in Marco Dreßler from Eschen/Mauren for €60k earlier in the window, a 15 year old with characteristics that remind many people of Ilan. A superb spot by the youth team but it would be a mistake to compare them too directly. Talent needs space to become itself. What excites me is not replacing Ilan, but starting a new journey with another young striker who can grow inside an environment that now has proof of concept.

This transfer also forces reflection on our processes.

We are reconsidering early loans. Development cannot be outsourced too quickly. Facilities like ours exist for a reason. Players need time in their own environment, with their own coaches, inside a methodology that is consistent. Loans will still exist, but they must become the final step of preparation, not the first test of survival.

My work now becomes more structural. More individual planning. More daily reinforcement. More attention to psychological readiness as well as tactical growth.

What’s done is done. Ilan’s story in Chur is finished. But if we do our work correctly, his transfer will not be remembered as an ending. We now enter a new period of time: Ruben Gonzalez will lead the line, minutes will be given to Valerio Christen and, hopefully, he will continue in the same vein as his four minute Europa League cameo and Marco will receive the careful focus at youth level to hopefully put him in contention for a first team slot when the time comes.

It will be remembered as evidence of a beginning.