BOLSTERING THE RANKS

The winter break will last a few more days for Osijek, until the 8^th of January, for which Zekić slated the preparatory period for the second part of the League season. People are slowly coming back on who the HQ counts, with Alen Petrović as a central figure. The public and the fans are still interested if they’ll see any new faces in Osijek’s ranks…

It’s a fact that we have it good on the ladder, but it’s important to always try to move up. The winter transitional period is a bit more demanding when it comes to new players, so that summer stays a higher priority. It’s clear that these players cost a sum on the Transfermarkt and that they’re hard to find, which doesn’t mean that we aren’t keeping our eyes pried on the market. – said Petrović.

Osijek doesn’t Depend on Selling its Players

The Sports director was asked the question of some rumored transfers out of Osijek because it isn’t a secret that there are some bids being directed at the club, coming from outside of Croatia.

There are always bids, but the important fact remains that we don’t have a need to sell anyone of our standard roster players. Therefore, we don’t depend on selling players, so that our ruminations lie with eventual reinforcements coming in. To be honest, we don’t have a real requirement to bring someone new right now, except for the possibility to do something now that was slated for June.

It’s Getting Hard Finding Reinforcements in the Croatian League

It’s clear that Osijek wants people who will add value to the current roster:

It’s true that we want a big bite when it comes to ratings and the caliber of players we want to bring to Gradski Vrt. In that vein, it’s not necessary to say that we are still reinforcing our team, having the 4^th biggest budgest in the league. I want to say that, come summer, we’ll have to increase that budget even further. It’s hard now to find people in the League who would satisfy our criteria and our competitive aspirations. It’s hard to buy players from the likes of D, H an R (Dinamo, Hajduk, Rijeka), and for the other clubs, it’s questionable if their players would even live up to our current ones.

Clear Criteria for incoming Players

It’s clear what kind of player is desired:
We had luck last summer when we brought fresh new players such as Bočkaj, Grezda, Murdražija and Jambor, Marić and Hajdradinović, as they all have become a core part of our team. We still think in these terms. I’ll repeat that the winter transitional period is tamer, so to speak, than the summer one, but if the possibility presents itself to purchase someone good, we’ll take it. In agreement with the president and the club owners, a certain budget has been devised for some serious reinforcements for the transitional period. It’s important to point out that we don’t care for unknowns, but rather for players who are known to be good. – Petrović concluded.