Ibricic, Ibricic, IBRICIC!!!

Finally, a major signing!! Obviously no disrespect intended towards the other signings as I believe that they are all good signings but in my opinion the transfer of Senijad Ibricic is a major coup for Lokomotiv. Surely he will have to be at his best in order to replace the surely outgoing Aliev but from the several videos I've viewed I believe that he have more than what it takes to make us fans forget Aleksandr Aliev in a very short time!! Unsurprisingly, from what I've saw on the various blogs the Loko fans are literally ecstatic with the signature. Although he is far from a worldclass name, the fact that we paid a sizeable sum, thought to be around the 5 million mark, coupled with his proven record in Croatia and his international pedigree are enough reasons for optimism amongst the fans. With the departure of Yury Semin and installment of Aunty Olga things looked gloomed for Lokomotiv but thankfully during the last couple of weeks the Loko management worked very hard and although it's still early to say I am of the belief that we can do well. At least the fans, including me are dreaming once again. I'm not saying that we will do a 2010 Zenit but I think that the talent to at least snatch a Champions League place is there!! Playing on Tuesdays and Wednesday is better than Thursdays isn't it?

Senijad Ibricic is 25 years old. In the past years he distinguished himself with Hajduk Split and NK Zagreb in the Croatian League and soon developed into the best player of the same Croatian League. Although no fee was mentioned, as aforementioned it is believed that the Railwaymen shelled out 5 million for the 2009-2010 Heart of Hajduk winner. Senijad, who have a Bosnian and Croation passport plays for the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to date he made 30 apperances and scored 4 goals in the process. Ibricic, who can play as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker, signed a 3 year a half contract with Lokomotiv.

Shortly afterwards putting pen to paper, Ibiric offered his view about his move to Lokomotiv. He said that his move to Lokomotiv is a major step in his career as he is of the belief that the Russian Premier Liga is much stronger than the Prva HNL. He showed his pleasure at how things went and went on to personally thank Olga Smorodskaya and the whole club who showed a big interest in making him a red-green man. He continued the interview by conceeding the fact that he is quite sad of leaving Hajduk. He reasoned that he developed into a quality player while playing in Split and thus he feel indebted towards the club, especially the fans (of whom he was a cult hero). He ended his short interview by stating that football is all about challenges and he felt that the time was rife to leave Hajduk and seek new challenges.

Senijad Ibricic, who was born in Kotor Varoš, started his career with Podgrmeč. After banging in a remarkable 16 goals in 23 apperances in his debuting season, the 1.82 Bosnian moved on to Croatia and signed for NK Zagreb. There he managed to establish himself as one of the club's best players and therefore it was not a surprise when one of the two leading clubs in Croatia came knocking. Eventually after making 99 apperances and scoring 22 goals he moved to Hajduk Split in a 1.8mln move. In Split he continued to showcase his skills and by 2010 he was by far the best player in the Croatioan League. As of 2010, his goal-to-ratio for Hajduk was quite remarkable as despite playing in a withdrawn position he still managed to the net 35 times in 75 matches! Pretty impressive. Such form started to gain interest from overseas and despite vairious interests from various club, eventually Ibricic moved to Moscow, Lokomotiv!!!

WELCOME ON BOARD IBRICIC!!!