Last summer, Josip Stanisic was loaned out by FC Bayern to league rivals Bayer Leverkusen – without an option to buy. With the Werkself, the 23-year-old is really upsetting his parent club. Before the second leg of the round of 16 in the Europa League against Qarabag FK, the Croatian international spoke about his future – and made people sit up and take notice.
When it comes to Josip Stanisic, people in Munich might not be sure whether to laugh or cry. Since the turn of the year, the loan player has been in the defense of Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen – to the chagrin of Bayern, who are lagging behind the Rhinelanders in the table and, to make matters worse, have also had to overcome a defensive bottleneck.
After all: The plan with Stanisic worked, the FCB officials can look forward to a noticeably mature all-rounder who could heat up the competition in 2024/2025. At least in theory.
Because at the press conference before the Europa League second leg against Qarabag FK, the defender didn’t sound like he was looking forward to his comeback at Säbener Straße.
“I haven’t thought about this at all yet. The season is still long, we’re in all three competitions, that’s the focus. After that comes the European Championships. What happens beyond that is still up in the air,” explained Stanisic .
The homegrown player is under contract with FC Bayern until 2026. “Of course the situation is such that I have to go back. But in football you never know. Business is very fast-moving,” emphasized the Munich native (Video opens above).
After saying goodbye to FC Bayern: Stanisic “had to adapt”
According to Stanisic, the fact that he wasn’t initially a regular player at Leverkusen was a problem for Stanisic.
“Of course I came here before the season with a different attitude. I had to adapt first. […] There were days when I was in a bad mood and it would have been better not to talk to me. But every player has those days,” the shooting star revealed.