No longer wants to be lent
©IMAGO
Jovan Milosevic has had an up-and-down season. In the first half of the season he was on course for the championship as Partizan Belgrade’s top scorer, and in the second half of the season he fought with Werder Bremen to stay in the Bundesliga. In an interview with the Serbian newspaper “Mozzartsport”, the 20-year-old attacker, who is under contract with VfB Stuttgart, spoke about the “strange” separation from Werder Bremen and his plans for the future.
“Realistically speaking, it was the only one in which I actually played,” said Milosevic, looking back on the past season with a smile. “No, seriously, a really good season. The impression was somewhat dampened towards the end, but basically I’m happy. There was a bit of everything. Overall, it’s a season that I’ll remember for a long time.” In the end, the center forward scored 19 goals and six assists in 36 games, although the half-series could hardly have been different.
In the first half of the season he contributed 16 goals and five assists in 21 games for Partizan before the loan was canceled and he went to Werder Bremen, who were desperately looking for a striker. There he was involved in four goals in 13 games, but he no longer played a major role at the back. He left Partizan because those responsible at VfB Stuttgart wanted him to. “There was an option and I was in favor of staying at Partizan, but I had – I wouldn’t call it an instruction – more of a disagreement with the people in charge from Stuttgart, who told me that in their opinion it was the best step for my career to move on somewhere else. Their attitude was that I had outgrown the league and they wanted to see me on a bigger stage, because that also means something for them as a club. From their point of view, it was time for something new, for a new challenge. Over time, they became more and more more persistent, and we saw that they would not let me return to Partizan for another loan period.” Milosevic described his year at Partizan as the best of his life. “I regret not staying longer,” he explained.
Milosevic and the “strange” separation from Werder Bremen
The differences between Werder and Partizan were drastic, as Milosevic tried to explain. “It felt like everything had gone down. There was snow when I arrived and everyone told me it was the first time it had snowed so much in who knows how many years. People were half depressed.” They hadn’t won many games anymore. “What a difference: from the beautiful weather in Belgrade, the smiling mates you’re with every day, to people who don’t even look each other in the eye. It was really strange, but I think I got used to it quickly; it didn’t take long.” When Milosevic arrived, Werder had been winless in six games and had failed to score four times. It would take nine more games before the Green-Whites got a three-pointer again – the Serb scored a goal in the 2-0 win against Heidenheim.
“Basically, considering the playing time, the team’s position in the table and the circumstances under which I came here, I’m pretty happy,” said Milosevic, who described it as a “decent half series”. He performed well at the beginning and scored three goals in the first eight games. After missing the entire month of March with back problems, he didn’t really find his way back to his old strength. He was only in the starting line-up twice, failed to impress and spent over 90 minutes on the bench in the last two games.
He apparently no longer has a future on the Weser, even if contact continues. Werder currently prefers other strikers, and the club is said to be in talks with Niclas Füllkrug, among others. “We separated in a somewhat strange way. We had a few minor problems at the end, but I don’t want to talk too much about it,” said Milosevic, for whom another loan is out of the question, as he told the Stuttgart team.
