Sport Director’s view on winter transfer period

NK Olimpija sport director Goran Boromisa looks back at the winter transfer period, which brought three new faces to the Green-Whites. Along with the goalkeeper, the Dragons added two attackers. There have also been two players that left the club.

Goran, the winter transfer period ended last week. What is the overall assessment of this period?

“I am happy with the transfer period. We have amicably parted ways with some players and the transfer of Rui Pedro, which was before the expiry of his contract, was well done. Given the situation, it was the most understandable move for all parties involved. We brought Antonio Marino in to replace him, but unfortunately what happened happened. On the other hand, Ivan Durdov is the type of footballer we were looking for. He is a so-called “target man” and that is what the coach wanted in the team. We are confident that he will make the desired contribution, as he has experience of 1. SNL and the killing in it. The competition among goalkeepers was intensified by Gal Lubej Fink, a local boy, which was also our wish.”

What about the interest of foreign clubs in Olimpija players?

“During the winter there was a lot of interest and unofficial demand for Marcel Ratnik. As for the other offers, they were rejected. However, this is a winter transfer window. Nemanja Motika, David Sualehe and Ahmet Muhamedbegović – there was interest in those players, but we rejected the offers because we wanted to keep the team, with the exception of Rui Pedro, who, as I said, was entering the last six months of his contract. His transfer abroad was the only understandable move and we managed to carry it out.”

Antonio Marin joined Olimpija at the beginning of the preparations, gradually got back into shape and quickly scored twice, then a serious knee injury… a big shock for the whole team.

“Of course. Marin’s injury is a big shock for all of us. We saw him in the so-called “number ten” position. It was all sorted. We sold Rui Pedro and brought Antonio Marino to replace him. He proved his quality in a few preparatory and two league games, but then came an unfortunate moment and a serious injury. But this is also part of football and we have no choice but to move forward. We will help him, stand by him and hope he returns as soon as possible.”

Gal Lubej Fink filled in as goalkeeper. Alongside Denis Pintol and Žan Mauricio, Matevž Vidovšek will soon be included in the plans. When will Matevž be available to Zoran Zeljković again?

“Matevž Vidovšek has started to step up his training efforts in the new year. We are very happy about this. According to the medical team, he will finally return in a month. This will definitely increase the competition among goalkeepers. That’s why we brought Gal, who knows the environment and has good goalkeeping skills, to the club in December. Of course, he will also need some time to fully integrate into the system, but together with Pintol and Mauricio, we have a lot of good solutions between them, along with the two goalkeepers already mentioned.”

Agba returned to the line-up against Domžale. There are also three foreigners (Pedro Lucas, Admir Bristrić and Nemanja Motika). How do you and the staff see this?

“It’s true that we have four foreigners, but only three can play. Motika is in the process of obtaining a German passport. He has played for the younger teams in this country and was born in Berlin, so we believe that this will be sorted out soon and we will be able to count on all the players from match to match without any complications. Peter Agba showed once again against Domžale that he has a lot of potential and represents the future of the club. At this moment, it is up to these four players to choose their place in the team. We know the rules, but we are definitely working on having enough foreign players in the squad.”

What other wishes were there? Have you looked for any other new strengths in other positions?

“Priorities in relation to arrivals were linked to the 10. We decided on Marin, who unfortunately suffered a serious injury. The second preference was a striker with the profile of Ivan Durdov, tall, strong, good with his head. A guy who can keep the ball. At the same time, we have managed to keep all the players. We consider that we have the necessary quality and a wide enough team to attack the double crown again.”

A lot of young boys have been training with the team during the preparations. Thoughts of what you have seen?

“During the preparations we could see that Marko Ristić, the captain of the youth team, is the future of Olimpija. He is on the shortlist of defenders for the youth team. This is an indication that we will always rely on our own school. There are also Aldin Jakupović, Vall Janković, Mateo Aćimović and Matej Dvoršak, who are already in the training process. All of them have a lot of potential, and they are gradually getting better and better. It’s up to them to show their talent and up to us to develop it accordingly.”