After a well-deserved break following the capture of yet another league title — the ninth in the club’s history — HŠK Zrinjski’s players officially began their summer preparations for the new season today.
Head coach Mario Ivanković and his coaching staff gathered the first-team players on Sunday afternoon, and following an introductory meeting, the squad held their first training session.
The coaching staff had 25 players available at the start of training camp. In addition to the returning loanees (Arman Šutković and Marko Kozina), five new players took part in the first session — returning veteran Mateo Sušić, who has already been presented as a new signing, along with Tyler Burey, Milan Šikanjić, Ante Sušak, and Mihajlo Ševa, who will soon be officially confirmed as Zrinjski players.
Burey is a 24-year-old English winger who joins the nine-time champions as a free agent following a six-month spell at Igman. Šikanjić, one year older, also arrives on a free transfer after two impressive seasons with Laktaši, where he scored an incredible 63 goals in 65 matches. Sušak is a 19-year-old left-back who, as a Dinamo Zagreb junior, spent last season on loan at Gorica and Rudeš, while Ševa is an 18-year-old attacking player who spent the past three years at Krupa.
Tarik Ramić and Alen Jurilj were excused from the opening session, along with Anis Sefo and Ivan Posavec, who are still recovering from injuries. In addition to those players we have officially parted ways with (Matija Malekinušić, Antonio Prskalo, Fran Topić, and Franko Sabljić), Marko Marić and Mario Tičinović — whose contracts have also expired — did not take part in the first day of training.
As a reminder, the first week of preparations will take place in Mostar, while the central part of the camp is scheduled for Međugorje from June 23 to July 2.
Zrinjski will open the new season with the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, with matches scheduled for July 8/9 and 15/16, while the draw will take place on June 17 in Nyon.
Alongside the major international challenges ahead, the domestic scene will also offer a fight for three trophies. In the WWin League, which will be played in a quadruple round-robin format for the first time, we’ll battle for a historic tenth league title. We’ll also defend our Supercup title against FK Sarajevo and compete for another trophy in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup.
Squad
Goran Karačić, Arman Šutković, Hrvoje Barišić, Ilija Mašić, Petar Mamić, Slobodan Jakovljević, Toni Šunjić, Kerim Memija, Duje Dujmović, Antonio Ivančić, Igor Savić, Jakov Pranjić, Stefano Surdanović, Marijan Ćavar, Karlo Abramović, Tomislav Kiš, Nardin Mulahusejnović, Toni Majić, Nemanja Bilbija, Marko Kozina, Mateo Sušić, Tyler Burey, Milan Šikanjić, Ante Sušak, Mihjalo Ševa
