Tuesday 3 February 2015 13:30, UK
Southampton completed the loan signing of Filip Djuricic from Benfica on Deadline Day, but just who is their latest arrival?
We take a look at the new man’s career so far and what Saints can expect from him as Ronald Koeman's side continue their push to bring European football to St Mary’s…
Name: Filip Djuricic
Age: 23
Position: Wide forward
Club: Benfica
Nation: Serbia (19 caps, four goals)
Djuricic was given the optimistic tag of being the Johan Cruyff of the Balkans as a teenager and attracted interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs. He trained with Manchester United in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve team in the 2008/09 season.
The inevitable move to Western Europe came with Heerenveen in January 2010 and the forward made a big impact in his three and a half seasons in the Eredivisie. He reached double figures for goals in the 2011/12 season, making his international debut for Serbia in the February of that campaign.
The Southampton manager came up against Djuricic five times during his time in charge of Feyenoord and the young forward certainly made an impact. Most notably, there was his last-minute equaliser in a KNVB Cup tie between the teams in December 2012.
Djuricic identified La Liga as the ideal setting for him to develop his game, but instead a move to Benfica followed in the summer of 2013 and former Heerenveen head coach Marco van Basten felt this was the right move for the youngster.
“I think it’s good for him to take the next step,” said Van Basten, quoted in De Telegraaf. “It’s good that he’s still not heading to the big football nations, that’s the third step. This is a deliberate second step.” It began well, too, with a debut goal for Jorge Jesus’s side in a 2-0 Champions League win over Anderlecht.
While compatriots Nemanja Matic and Lazar Markovic impressed at Benfica, Djuricic struggled to make an impact in an underwhelming first season in Lisbon. In fact, he failed to find the net in 11 league appearances and was loaned to Mainz for the 2014/15 season.
He’s technical, fast and he can play in different positions in the midfield.
“He is a very talented player, nimble and dangerous in front of goal,” said Mainz head coach Kasper Hjulmand upon acquiring Djuricic in the summer, but by November his attitude had changed. “He needs to learn that more speed and more power is needed here,” he told Kicker. “In the Bundesliga, you should always keep working.” Djuricic failed to register a goal or an assist in 11 appearances.
"It's a young player. He's 23 years old, he’s technical, fast and he can play in different positions in the midfield. He can play on the left side and the right side. It’s always best for the coach to have more possibilities in players who can change positions."
Djuricic remains a skilful player with considerable potential and there are echoes in his career path of Eljero Elia, another former Eredivisie star who arrived at St Mary’s in this transfer window. Perhaps the trust of a good manager can help Djuricic get back on track.
