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RSS Feed Sports26. 08. 10. - 19:00
Jelavic wants Rapid to lose
Croatian Times
Former Rapid Vienna star Nikica Jelavic has revealed he wants his
ex-teammates to lose their crucial UEFA Europa League qualifier against
Aston Villa tonight (Thurs).
The Croat told Scottish media today: "I have to hope that my old team loses, but this is football."
Jelavic,
24, stressed that Villa must knock out the 32-time Austria league
champions for him to be eligible to play for Glasgow Rangers in this
season's UEFA Champions League.
The national team ace performed
for Rapid against Lithuanian cup winners FK Sūduva Marijampolė and PFC
Beroe Stara Zagora from Bulgaria – before telling club bosses on the
morning of last week’s first leg against Villa (1-1) he did not want to
perform for Rapid ever again.
Jelavic is understood to having
enforced his departure through that statement, branded a "slap in the
face of thousands of Rapid fans" by Rudolf Edlinger, the club’s
president, Austrian Times has reported.
"Someone making such a statement is wrong at his club," Edlinger fumed.
Five-million-Euro
striker Jelavic said today: "It was a difficult situation in the
build-up to the Aston Villa game. They (Rapid) said some things that
weren’t true, but I don't want to discuss it. It is behind me."
Jelavic,
who joined Rapid for less than half a million Euros from Belgian side
Zulte Waregem in 2008, scored for Rapid twice when they sensationally
kicked out Villa at the same stage of last season’s Europa League.
"I’ll
be very interested to see what happens at Villa Park," he said, adding
that he was "totally focused on Rangers" after having "too much stress
in my head".
Jelavic – who is expected to get a work permit for
Scotland shortly – said: "I want to win trophies with Rangers, play well
in the Champions League and score many goals for this club."
Meanwhile, Austrian sports press claim Rapid have set their sights on former Celtic Glasgow star Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
The 31-year-old Dutch striker is a free agent after Hull City did not extend his contract after a doomed season.
Hannover
96 striker Mikael Forssell is also rumoured to be of interest to
Rapid’s executive manager Alfred Hörtnagl, who is pressed to act before
the summer transfer window shuts on Tuesday (31 August).
Rapid
are reportedly ready to invest most of the money raked in by selling
Jelavic after having been infamously reluctant to spend large sums on
players for years.
Club bosses reportedly fear a fan revolt if
they put all of the Jelavic transfer earnings in the bank instead of
splashing a decent part of them on at least one addition to the current
squad.
Rapid allowed some of their best players – including
midfielder Ümit Korkmaz and strikers Erwin Hoffer and Stefan Maierhofer –
to leave in previous summer transfer periods while giving several young
talents the chance to perform at top-flight level.
The Austrian Bundesliga table after five rounds:
SV Ried, 12 points
Wacker Innsbruck, 10
Rapid Vienna, 9
Austria Vienna, 8
Kapfenberg, 8
Sturm Graz, 7
Magna Wiener Neustadt, 7
Red Bull Salzburg, 4
LASK Linz, 0
SV Mattersburg, 0
Tag cloud star players Europa Austria Glasgow having stressed club League Jelavic season UEFA Villa Aston striker play champions Euro Vienna Rangers
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