Football club Vojvodina today signed contracts with five players from its Youth Academy.
Those are players born in 2004: captain Miloš Popović, central back Luka Drobnjak, midfielders Vanja Apostolovski and Lukijan Abadžija, and striker Mihailo Ivanović.
The president of the Old Lady, Dragoljub Samardžić, pointed out the importance of their signatures as a confirmation of the new policy of Vojvodina – that in the future the base of the first team will be the Youth Academy.
– On behalf of the management of FK Vojvodina, today it is an exceptional honor and pleasure for us to present our new club policy, which are the highest placements in the championship, competition in Europe and promotion of young players. The promotion of young players is a policy that the club just continued to do, because we all know that our academy is a real factory of football pearls. Last night we had two players from our Academy, Tadić and Milinković-Savić, who confirmed in the best way that our academy works extremely well. According to the new program and plan, we have created a good system that will guarantee us that we will continue to have such wonderful guys and fantastic players, just like the ones who signed professional contracts today – Samardžić pointed out.
He expressed his belief that Voša’s new professionals will become the leaders of the first team and be a real example for the coming generations.
– Our plan is for as many young players as possible to sign professional contracts in the coming years. The goal of our policy is that no young player goes to look for a professional contract in another club, but to get a chance to prove himself in his own, because we believe that Vojvodina is the right place for them. Once again, I wish our new professionals good luck in the continuation of their careers – President Dragoljub Samardžić emphasized.
Sports director Milan Kosanović also underlined the importance of promoting young players.
– For a start, I would like to congratulate the director of the Youth Academy, Duško Grujić, and the sports director, Brane Novaković. Their success is that the players from our academy are signing professional contracts today. It’s proof that the school is doing a great job. I am convinced that this generation of 2004 will bring many more first team players. This is the generation from which Vojvodina expects a lot in the future. Today’s signatures are just an overture to our plan for as many players as possible to get professional contracts – said Kosanović.
The cadet team of Vojvodina, represented by the players who signed professional contracts today, gained the title of autumn champion in the Cadet League of Serbia this season, and is currently in second place on the table.
– I congratulate them once again on the victory over Red Star last Saturday. They have shown in the best way that they deserve to be where they are. I am not a supporter of the fact that the results are not the most important in the younger categories, because it is like in school – when you study well, you also get good grades. I want these signatures to be a reward for good and hard work. I am especially proud that three midfielders signed contracts today, which means that Vojvodina will have real successors for Drinčić and other midfielders in the first team in the future. I expect that after this season, some of them will be preparing with the first team, and why not make their debut next season – Kosanović emphasized.
The sports director then informed the public more closely about the qualities of the guys who signed professional contracts with the Old Lady today.
– Captain Miloš Popović has already distinguished himself as a true leader. He is a midfielder who knows how to score a goal and knows that it is expected of him. He is a leader on the pitch, a modern midfielder who can cover all three positions in the middle of the field.
Luka Drobnjak is a fighter, strong in the one-on-one situations. Sometimes he wants to make an extra move, to show everything he can, but it is all justified and normal and it will come to its own during years. Luka is a member of the national team and a player from whom much is expected in the coming years. He and Milan Majstorović make that defense tandem in the cadet team and we expect them to be in the first team in a few years.
I call Vanja Apostolovski a “Spanish” player. He is the one who is constantly looking for the ball, who wants to stand out and is not afraid to take responsibility and dictate the pace in the middle. Sometimes he even plays too much with the ball, but that’s good, such midfielders are needed more and more.
Lukijan Abadžija is also a midfielder, with distinct abilities to enter the final of the attack and score a goal. His way of playing is reminiscent of modern midfielders, like De Bruyne, because he is constantly in the finish of the attack and scores many goals. I also have an anecdote with him. I asked him how many goals he would give to Grafičar and Red Star, he told me three, and he gave two and there was a penalty over him. If he hadn’t received a red card along the way, he might have given a third. He is full of self-confidence and a player of great potential.
Mihailo Ivanović is the best scorer of the team, strong and powerful in the tackling. In terms of characteristics, it reminds of Aleksandar Mitrović, who is now in the spotlight. All of them work hard, they have two trainings a day, and we work individually with them, all in order to be available to the first team as soon as possible – concluded Milan Kosanović.
