Ermedin Demirovic is about to make a comeback after a four-month injury break at VfB Stuttgart. Good news – for him and his team.
The past few weeks have been “exhausting” for Ermedin Demirovic. The 27-year-old has worked hard to get back into shape after his foot injury. “A lot of runs, a lot of hard training sessions. Hard on the body. But I think it was just the right thing to be able to put my foot down here during training. That felt really good,” said the attacker after Start of the year for the Swabians in conversation with SWR Sport.
Demirovic wanted to be “tortured”.
With Demirovic, the player who shaped VfB’s offensive at the beginning of the season, when others were not yet in top shape – or, like striker colleague Deniz Undav, was missing due to injury, is coming back. One reason why the Bosnia-Herzegovina international is so important for the Swabians is his attitude, which borders on obsessive. You can feel the determination when Demirovic talks about the last few weeks and months.
“I said to everyone: ‘Pull me through this phase, even if I don’t feel like it.’ Nobody wants to be tortured, but somehow the point was most important to me,” said the attacker. “I had to get over this point: When I stand on the pitch for the first time and do the first sprints, make the first tackles, have the first finish and have to sprint back – it has to work.”
And so far it’s working. Besides the one before the winter break Undav, who is in top formTiago Tomas and new signing Jeremy Arévalo, the Swabians now have another option for the center of attack in the race for their third European Cup participation in a row.
VfB coach Hoeneß: “Medo will have to slow down”
Sebastian Hoeneß is also happy about Demirovic’s return, but wants to approach building further form carefully. “As always, it depends on good dosage and proper load control. It will certainly be the case that we have to slow down ‘Medo’ because he is totally motivated,” said the VfB coach.
And yet VfB fans can look forward to the attacker’s return to the pitch soon. “He’s in good shape. He prepared well, was very conscientious and diligent in his rehab. He’s no longer a partially integrated player, he’s fully involved in the units. He’s not being controlled. We just have to see how we do it in terms of the games,” said Hoeneß.
Demirovic feels ready for the VfB starting eleven
The Swabians will have more than enough games in the coming weeks. Nine games in 29 days are on the program for VfB in the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB Cup. Right at the start there will be the top game at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday (January 10th, 6:30 p.m.).
Will Demirovic be back in VfB’s starting line-up? “Only Sebastian Hoeneß knows that, I think,” said Demirovic with a smile. “The question would have to be whether I could do it. I believe or I hope, yes. But the coach will decide that. We will stay in touch, I will put my foot down and of course prove myself.”
Whether already in Leverkusen or later: Given the busy calendar, Demirovic will soon be part of the Swabians’ starting lineup again. In any case, the attacker is not afraid of the deadline rush: “Every footballer will confirm it: When you have a lot of games in a short time, it’s tiring, but it’s also the best time in football. Because you’re actually just regenerating and playing.” It’s all the better that Demirovic can be there again after a long period of suffering.
