On 15 August, the 21-year-old national team player Julie Scaglione was sold from Ikast Handball to Team Esbjerg in a record-breaking deal, effective immediately.
The transfer caused deep frustrations for Ikast captain Stine Skogrand, who complained to management about their decision to let Scaglione go.
Julie Scaglione had one year remaining on her contract with Ikast Handball, where she also finished as the league's leading goalscorer last season. However, as it was not possible to agree on a new contract, the Ikast management saw an advantage in cashing in on what has been described as a record-breaking transfer fee.
"I thought, 'That can't be right'—I really didn't see that coming," says Ikast captain Stine Skogrand to TV 2 Sport.
"To be honest, it was a huge disappointment, because I had been looking forward to a season with Julie on the team. It came as a surprise, and we really liked having her on the squad because she takes a lot of responsibility on the court."
CEO Daniel Gronhoj acknowledges that he would have preferred to see Scaglione move to a club outside Denmark.
"You can't always decide that yourself. The top priority was to keep Julie and extend her contract, and she made no secret of the fact that she is very fond of Ikast when she left us. But she wanted to try something else."
Ikast lost 36-29 to Odense in the first match of the season