Hull City manager Sergej Jakirović has backed Dinamo Zagreb star Dion Drena Beljo to join a club like Manchester City, and reiterated his desire to sign Croatian players for the Premier League side in the winter market.
The 24-year-old striker has exploded since joining the Croatian club last summer. In his debut season, he managed 38 goals and four assists in 44 matches. He has extended his form into this season, scoring 17 goals and contributing eight assists in 18 matches.
Beljo’s performances have already seen him attract interest from England, while there’s no concrete report of Manchester City’s interest.
Manchester City better option for star
Last week, Sport Witness covered a report from Croatia explaining that Everton want to sign Dion Drena Beljo. He could leave in January as long as Dinamo Zagreb received a tempting offer.
Hull City boss Sergej Jakirović has been speaking to Sportske Novosti, where he also talks about his former club, Dinamo Zagreb.
When asked whether their best player [Beljo] can play in the Premier League, he said: “Beljo scores goals, which he also showed against Spain. He can react brilliantly. Let’s not underestimate his goals in the SHNL. Every goal is very important. His club should be dominant. Now, you ask me if he could play for Hull City, so he could play for Hull, of course, but he would have to work a lot harder to reach the final.”
Sportske Novosti immediately quizzed him whether he’s saying the Croatia international would suit Manchester City better than the Tigers.
Responding to that, Jakirović explained: “Of course. There are better players there, very high quality, so I don’t see why Beljo shouldn’t score goals like Haaland. Not now, so that it doesn’t come across as me saying that he is better, but if you create enough chances for him, he has shown that he can score goals.”
Missed out on duo in summer
Sergej Jakirović says he wanted to sign Orlando City’s Marco Pašalić for Hull City in the summer. That didn’t materialise, and he also missed out on Benfica’s Franjo Ivanović, who is on loan at RC Lens.
He recently talked about wanting to bring Croatian players to the club in January. When asked about it, he confirms missing out on Pašalić and Ivanović.
“I really wanted Marco Pašalić and Franjo Ivanović. I still want to bring a player who is a Croatian national team player or a Bosnian national team player. In that case you have the basic conditions to be able to get a work permit,” Jakirović explained.
“The second thing is that they are high-quality players. We have a lot of prejudice here. If they were Portuguese, Spanish or other nationalities, it would be much easier for our players to come to England.”
“Of course, in my club there is a hierarchy in the selection of players, there is a consensus, when I see that there is resistance I slowly give up on it because I see that it would take away my concentration on the players I currently have.”
“Fruk was also mentioned, earlier in the Championship and Pukštaš, as well as Stojković, Radeljić and Galešić. All of these are players who are potential candidates. Time will tell how they will cope, but there are players for whom I see that they are no better than them and I think they have the quality to cope at this level.”
“Players from our area can adapt anywhere. If there are opportunities, I will do everything, first to help our clubs, in terms of finances, as well as the player for whom it is a great stepping stone and stage for progress and career development.”
