DUBAI // Ivan Trickovski, Al Nasr's latest signing, said on Friday that the opportunity to work with Ivan Jovanovic again was the principal reason behind his transfer from Belgium's Club Brugge.
The Macedonian striker, 27, signed a two-year contract with the Al Maktoum Stadium side on Wednesday. He replaces Eder Luis, the Brazilian forward ruled out with injury since February. Luis is not expected to return before the beginning of next year.
For Trickovski, the move to Nasr was an obvious one as he played two years under Jovanovic at Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus. During his time on the Mediterranean island, Trickovski was an integral part of the side that won the league championship in 2011.
Perhaps his finest contribution, though, was helping Apoel advance as far as the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League – their best run in the competition.
Jovanovic, who last summer succeeded Walter Zenga at Nasr, convinced Trickovski to swap Europe for the UAE instead of accepting an offer to make permanent his move to Beveren, another Belgian club. Trickovski enjoyed a relatively successful season there last year, on loan from Club Brugge.
“I have already played under Jovanovic for two years at Apoel and he is an excellent coach, but first of all an absolutely wonderful human being,” Trickovski said. “He earns the confidence and provides the tranquillity to play under his leadership.
“I was extremely happy when I participated in my first training session and found the same coaching staff who had worked with him previously. It was as if meeting my football family again.”
Trickovski will bring his family – his wife and two-year-old daughter – to Dubai once he returns next month from Nasr's training camp in Europe. He has been given the No 7 jersey for the 2014/15 campaign, the number he wears for the Macedonia national team.
Despite the switch outside Europe, Trickovski is confident he will be able to retain his first-team place for his country, especially as Macedonia begin qualification in September for the 2016 European Championships. He has 34 caps and has scored four goals.
He said his transfer had attracted substantial media attention in his homeland.
“Money is no longer the only motivation to play in the region here; things are evolving,” he said.
“When I discovered Jovanovic was staying for the second successive year, I realised immediately that he had found the competition and a challenge that met his level of expectations, and that the league would attract the world’s best players and coaches.”
Trickovski completes Nasr's foreign contingent, joining Brett Holman, Ibrahima Toure and Leo Lima, though doubts surround Lima's future. The Brazilian is said to be considering offers from teams at home and in Qatar.
Houssine Kharja, the Moroccan midfielder who plays with Al Arabi in Qatar, has reportedly been in negotiations with Nasr officials.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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