First division promoted in German hands
© Imago
After his farewell to Greuther Fürth, Kerim Calhanoglu (23) found a new club. The left-back and cousin of Inter-Star Hakan Calhanoglu (31) joins the Croatian first division promoted HNK Vukovar in 1991. Previously, the ex-DFB junior had presented himself at the third division club SV Waldhof Mannheim in trial training.
Calhanoglu enlarges the faction of the players from Germany. Defenders Ricardo Henning (24) and Jakov Suver (22), the midfielder Eniss Shabani (22), Marlon Roos-Trujillo (22) and Ivan Ljubicic (20) as well as the strikers Törles Knöll (27) and Luka Klanac (20) were all trained in Germany. That is no coincidence: HNK Vukovar has been in German hands for a good five years.
The owner and president is the Frankfurt entrepreneur Markus Buzov, whose parents come from Vukovar. He led the club from the 3rd league to the Oberhaus, which was founded in 2012 after the bankruptcy of the NK Vukovar ’91, where the last place was posted with two points after five match days. The team is trained by the former Frankfurter and Duisburg professional Gordon Schildenfeld.
Calhanoglu missed almost the entire past season due to a knee injury. For the Fürther professionals, the defender, trained at TSG Hoffenheim and FC Schalke 04, completed only eleven games in two years. “I am very happy to switch to the HNK Vukovar 1991. I have experience from the Bundesliga and would like to do my best for the team. I am looking forward to every game and hope that we will achieve good results together and enjoy our fans,” said Calhanoglu.