On Sunday evening, club president Frederico Varandas launched a scathing attack on the Danish international, who had been highly regarded by the club's fans and had even worn the captain's armband prior to his move to the giants Atlético Madrid.
The president was asked about the club's current star striker, Luis Suárez—who is also rumored to be leaving but continues to play for the clu, and suddenly Hjulmand was on the receiving end of a verbal jab.
"If Suárez is called up for a match, it is because he is professional enough to be there and honor the shirt. Let me give you a simple example: last year, precisely because of the turbulence in the January transfer market, there were stories about our captain that never amounted to anything."
"There were no offers in January, but there was pressure from the player because he wanted to leave. We discussed a possible departure that, in reality, had no substance: there were zero offers, and there was unprofessional behavior."
"What happened? The player was sidelined at a time when Sporting was competing for the national championship," he said, according to "O Jogo" and CNN Portugal.
He is presumably referring to a match on 1 February, when Hjulmand was suddenly left out of the Sporting squad entirely.
The following round, he was back and played one of his 141 matches for the Lisbon club.