Need to know
The City head coach contines to bask in the glory of masterminded a historic promotion
Sergej Jakirovic is preparing for life in the Premier League(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Sergej Jakirovic is enjoying a well-earned break back in his native Croatia, as he recovers from a relentless Championship season that saw him guide Hull City to promotion.
The Tigers boss is turning his attention to preparations for a Premier League campaign at the MKM Stadium, with a huge amount of work underway to ensure the club are ready for the big kick-off in late August.
While relaxing in Croatia, Jakirovic has been speaking to the media in his homeland, and he’s covered a host of topics which we’ve rounded up below…
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City’s budget this summer
“The boss (Acun Ilicali) and I talked, but he didn’t say anything about the money, we still need to sit down seriously. However, we do know some information. Coventry, as the winner of the Championship last season, plans to invest around 40 million euros in reinforcements, but they have had an expensive and strong team with which they attacked the Premier League for two years. Ipswich is reportedly preparing around 80 million.
“For some comparison, Sunderland, as a newcomer to the Premier League last summer, invested around 120 million in reinforcements and immediately finished seventh, qualifying for the Europa League.
“Sunderland is my guiding principle, the club has recognised, conditionally speaking, cheaper but very good players, mainly in Belgium and France. To get 120 million for reinforcements… That’s a dream, I don’t believe we will have that much money available, but we’ll see. Basically, there are no more bans; we can pay compensation. We have a very good sporting director, Jared Dublin, who used to be a scout and knows the players very well.
“It’s my last one (decision on signing a player), but we work together great and always agree. There’s not much philosophy. Dublin and his team will make a list of possible reinforcements, and we’ll filter and choose from them.”
On targets in the Croatian league
“It’s true, (Arber) Hoxha was our target, but because of the ban, we couldn’t pay compensation, and Dinamo didn’t want to let him go. I also wanted to bring (Rokas) Pukštas from Hajduk and (Toni) Fruk from Rijeka, but you can’t if you don’t pay compensation… All these are players who would be reinforcements for us in the Championship.
“I believe so, they are great players (would like to sign them now). I know Hoxha well from Dinamo, Pukštas has fantastic predispositions, (Toni) Fruk is brilliant in the final. They will certainly all be part of our analysis and discussions, but it is too early to draw any conclusions. We need to see how much money we will have available and who we will be in a position to bring in.
“The ones I listed certainly can (play in the Premier League). Otherwise, why doubt the quality of the players who dominate our league? Those with true ambition always find their way.”
Wanting to sign 22-year-old attacking Dinamo midfielder Luka Stojkovic
“I called him right after I signed the contract for Dinamo and told him that I expect him at training tomorrow. I saw in Lokomotiva that he is a great player and that he belongs in Dinamo. Yes, Stojković is also a player I would like to see in Hull.”
On a new MKM Stadium contract
“On Monday, I had a conversation with the boss (Acun Ilicali) and he said that he was preparing a new contract for me. I have one more year left in my current contract, with the club having the option to extend it for another year. We will see, but it is normal for me to get a new contract, after all, we are now a club in the Premier League.”
What he’s said on infrastructure?
“We have three training pitches just for the first team, which is more than enough. We also have a gym, a kitchen, saunas… The Academy has a camp at another location. However, we don’t have a good pitch, it was really bad in the spring and everyone complained about it. That’s because we share the pitch with the rugby team and now the boss is working on separating it. Well, not everything is perfect in England sometimes.”
His phone has been red hot since the play-off final
“This is immeasurable. A lot more people contacted me, and especially approached me on the street or in a cafe, restaurant… I’ve never received nearly so many messages in my life. A lot of people were genuinely happy about Hull’s and my success, and I’m really glad about that. Unknown people approach me on the street, that’s never happened before.
“When you’re Dinamo’s coach, it’s normal and expected that you’ll be champions. With Hull, no one at the club even dreamed of it, let alone expected it.”
What about the relationship with Acun Ilicali?
“The boss and I clicked the first time we spoke. We knew right away what we wanted and how we wanted to do it in Hull. The boss never questions my decisions.
“We met after our match against Galatasaray. He asked me to come for an interview, to get to know me. And he immediately asked me: “Is it possible that no one said a single bad word about you? I called a lot of people.” He also called Damir Mišković, who praised me, which I was especially pleased about.”
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