Defender Mateo Pavlovic is coming to SV Werder Bremen as reinforcements as the 22-year-old centre back transferred to the Weser from Croatian top flight side NK Zagreb, receiving a contract until 30 June 2016. "We have been observing...
Defender Mateo Pavlovic is coming to SV Werder Bremen as reinforcements as the 22-year-old centre back transferred to the Weser from Croatian top flight side NK Zagreb, receiving a contract until 30 June 2016. "We have been observing...
Defender Mateo Pavlovic is coming to SV Werder Bremen as reinforcements as the 22-year-old centre back transferred to the Weser from Croatian top flight side NK Zagreb, receiving a contract until 30 June 2016. "We have been observing Mateo Pavlovic for some time now. He is a young, talented centre back, who has a lot of potential and fits well into our team profile," said Werder's director for professional football and scouting Frank Baumann, who announced the signing Monday afternoon.
Head coach Thomas Schaaf is looking forward to working with the Croatian U21 international, who will be officially introduced at the re-start of training on 3 January. "With the departure of Francois Affolter, it was a good opportunity to acquire him now. He is a big centre back who is strong in challenges and in the air and has a good technique. Mateo gives us a player who improves our team with his qualities," said the 51-year-old Schaaf.
The transfer fulfils a dream for the new acquisition. "I am very happy to take the next step of my career. It was an expressed desire for me to transfer to Werder Bremen. I would like to show from the first day that I can be counted upon and that I can hold my own in this strong league," said Pavlovic.
Pavlovic, who was born in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, has played for the Croatian top flight side NK Zagreb since his youth days. The 22-year-old played 18 matches for the capital club during the 2012-13 season - all of them over the full 90 minutes. Since making the jump to the professional team in 2008-09, Pavlovic has played in 91 matches in the Croatian HNL (Hrvatska Nogomentna Liga), scoring five goals.
Pavlovic appeared in nine matches and scored one goal for the Croatian U21 national team. He debuted on 16 November 2010 in a friendly 2-1 victory over Slovenia after having previously played in the Croatian U20 and U19 teams. Before that, he played for the U17 team for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
