Say hello. . .
By: Chris | August 18th, 2008. . .to our new scoring threat.
It’s Crotian international, and Dortmund star Mladen Petric. Unfortunately, along with a €4.8m transfer fee to Dortmund, we also sent Egyptian striker Mohamed Zidan. I say unfortunately, because we never truly got to see the kid play in the year plus he was with HSV. He quickly fell out of favor with former manager Huub Stevens, and while he was given more playing time by BMJ, he clearly was not in the club’s long term plans. Zizzou will be reunited with his old Mainz buddy Jurgen Klopp, and Petric for his part, is totally stoked to come to HSV and to have a *chance* to play in the Champions League. Last season, Petric bagged 13 goals in 29 games and *should * make up some of the scoring production that went to Madrid with VDV. I wrote in the preview for Friday’s Bayern match that I felt that HSV needed to go out and sign a player who could knock in 15 or so goals, and by gosh, they went out and got one [Didi Beiersdorfer must be reading my blog 
] . I like this signing because Petric (despite a poor run in the Euro) is a finisher, which is something that we were truly lacking. There is speculation in the media that Petric’s signing will necessitate that one of the younger forwards–Ben-Hatira, Christantus, or Sidney Sam–will be loaned out. My guess is that it’s going to be Ben-Hatira, who has made it known to the club that he does not like the amount of playing time he is getting with the first team, nor is it likely to be Macauly Christantus, who is HSV’s prized young prospect.
Here’s Petric’s stats for his professional career:
|
Club |
Season |
Appearances (goals) |
|
FC Baden |
1998/99 |
22 (4) |
|
Grasshoppers |
1999/00 |
2 (0) |
|
|
2000/01 |
27 (5) |
|
|
2001/02 |
27 (7) |
|
|
2002/03 |
30 (13) |
|
|
2003/04 |
28 (6) |
|
FC Basel |
2004/05 |
16 (5) |
|
|
2005/06 |
31 (14) |
|
|
2006/07 |
25 (19) |
|
Borussia Dortmund |
2007/08 |
29 (13) |
|
|
TOTAL |
237 (87) |
He will be introduced to the Hamburg media on Thursday. He is playing in Croatia’s friendly with Slovenia on Wednesday.
So long, Zizzou. We hardly knew ya. And hello, Mladen. We are damn glad you are here, mate.
Category: Team News
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Comments
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hello….goodbye
Posted from
United States
-
‘Didi Beiersdorfer must be reading my blog’
LOL. And I suppose you must have read my blog, or if not…how do you know I turn 21 last Friday?
Posted from
Singapore -
This is a great deal for both sides, though I’m sure some Dortmund supporters will not be entirely sold on Zidan..however those people just weren’t watching him almost single-footedly save Mainz from the drop in 2007. I guess the riddle with Zidan is that the success has never translated over with the big clubs, but you’ve got to think Klopp knows how to use him. On the other side, HSV gets a known quantity, and does exactly what you say Chris, addresses a glaring weakness in the scoring department.
Posted from
United States -
Yes Diana, I remember from a comment you made when I posted the fixtures that your birthday was the 15th. So I did hop over to your blog (which I do from time to time to get your thoughts on the EPL) and found that you were turning 21.
Posted from
United States -
I think this is a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Hamburg have an abundance of quality players for the wings, so they don’t need to sign a Zidan replacement. Instead they finally get a high quality player, who could challenge Guerrero. Zidan was given a second chance by Jol, but it was still a gamble, as to whether Zidan would be able to realize his full potential at Hamburg.
Dortmund/Klopp on the other hand could really use a player like Zidan and Zidan could rejoin his former mentor. Petric on the other hand isn’t the perfect fit for Klopp’s preferred system and he isn’t BFF with Alex Frei. So, Dortmund get a potentially excellent player, who fits into Klopp’s system and a bit of money to spent on a midfielder or defender (after Dede’s injury).
Anyway, I’m positively surprised by this move. Hamburg have saved a lot of money with this deal and can now spend more on a talented midfielder, who could add more depth and options to the squad and potentially buy a defender in case Atouba leaves the club. I think Hamburg have the realistic chance to come out of the vdV sale with a stronger team than before…
Posted from
United States -
Yeah, no wonder it seemed to get done quickly, because it’s such a surprisingly sensible deal — just as Jan elaborated.
Posted from
United States
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