On Sunday, LASK will start the football year 2022 with the ÖFB Cup quarter-finals in Salzburg (4.30 p.m., ORF 1). While some questions remain unanswered before this game, the OÖN can probably answer those that most LASK supporters ask themselves: will Linz be active again shortly before the transfer deadline on February 7th?
The answer is yes – and it’s a real “scoop” that you’ll land if the medical check doesn’t bring a negative turn at the last second: Branko Jovicic (28), defensive midfielder and former Serbian national team player, is said to be moving from Russia to Upper Austria. Jovicic, who is currently still playing for Ural Ekaterinburg in the Russian Premier League, worked hard to earn his market value of 1.2 million euros during his time with Red Star Belgrade in the football Champions League. If you search the Internet, you will quickly find a photo that shows him in a duel with Paris star Kylian Mbappe. He was in action in the 2-0 win over Liverpool in 2018 as well as in the 2-2 draw in Salzburg when Red Star Belgrade kicked Salzburg out of the group stage with two goals in the last second. Incidentally, Jovicic was already briefly registered with LASK in 2014, but was then loaned out again relatively quickly. A profitable transaction for clubs and players’ agents, which was practiced more often at home clubs at the time.
On Sunday, of course, Jovicic will as well Philip Wiesinger (still training individually) and newcomer Oumar Sako miss. Filip Twardzik will be the only player who has not yet played for LASK in the fall. Trainer Andrew Wieland is still satisfied with the squad. “We have a good range and some players who were missing in the autumn are fit again. There are also a few options on defense despite the absences. It’s going to be a great game in which we have little to lose and it’s liberating can play.” You don’t want to hide. Wieland: “We want to act and put the opponent under pressure. That corresponds to our game idea.”
Goiginger stays in Linz
Included is of course Thomas Goiginger. “He’s a well-deserved and important player for us. I’m all the more pleased that he will continue to play for us in the spring,” said Wieland. It remains the case: A change is out of the question this season because LASK could no longer react so shortly before the end of the transfer, even with a financially acceptable offer.
Source: Nachrichten
