Rising Socceroos defender Ivan Franjic has left A-League champions Brisbane Roar to play in Russia’s top flight competition.
Franjic, who started Australia’s World Cup campaign at right-back, has signed with newly promoted Russian premier league club Torpedo Moscow.
In a deal which has delivered a healthy transfer fee to the Roar, the 26-year-old utility will debut with Torpedo once he recovers from the hamstring injury he sustained in Brazil.
“Today’s announcement is the result of four weeks of negotiation with Ivan’s new club and we’re satisfied with the final structure of the deal,” Roar managing director Sean Dobson said.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for him to continue his career development by playing in an overseas league.
“He has played a big part in our recent success, playing over 100 games for Brisbane Roar, and we thank him for being a loyal servant to our football club over the past five years.”
A late bloomer who only gained his first professional contract at 22 as an injury-replacement player for Brisbane, Franjic’s five-season stint has included three A-League titles.
The Melbourne product was a star of the Roar’s premiership and championship double last season, playing both at fullback and on the right wing.
He carried that form into a brief and bittersweet World Cup campaign, setting up Tim Cahill’s headed goal in the 3-1 loss to Chile before tearing his hamstring.
Although Franjic’s transfer has been in the offing for a month, the Roar are still looking at potential replacements for the upcoming season.
“Our playing group is not yet finalised and we’re continually working hard to ensure we can recruit the right types of players into the squad,” Dobson said.
JAJI
Guest
Fuss what about Josh Brillante and Trent Sainsbury so far this season. Are the Aussies Abroad starting to finally click into gear again after a lean 2-3 years?
The Bear
Guest
This could spell the end of the Orange dominance. Hingert will serve well and I suspect Bowles will provide decent squad depth. I wonder who in midfield will step up to cover the loss of attacking penetration? Is it Clut ? Petratos?
fadida
Guest
I doubt it Real. Roar need a really quick, attacking right sided player. Donachie is more like McGowan; solid defensively but will offer nothing in an attacking sense. For a team whose fullbacks are key this'd really unbalance them.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well done, Ivan Franjic. Just like Mile Jedinak, Ivan was in the football wilderness a few years ago - working as a carpenter, playing for team in the Victorian Premier League; until an A-league club saw his raw talent & took the risk with a young Aussie player. Well done Frank Farina! The final of the 4 building blocks required to create the professional footballer is "mental/psychological" - how badly does the individual want to succeed in his career. Ivan Franjic has demonstrated he has that mental toughness. And, leading up to WC2018, the spotlight will be firmly on everything to do with football - and not football - happening in Russia. Another big piece of news: Jason Davidson has signed a 3-year contract with EPL team, WBA. The sneering classes who love to say "no Aussies in big leagues of Europe" are rapidly running out of content for their "cut & paste" commentary. Golden Generation is buried in the history books. Generation Next has blue sky potential.
Realfootball
Guest
If Bowles is the replacement, God help us. He was simply awful at RB for Adelaide. Hingert can't cross a ball to save his life. No, my money is on Donachie for RB.
Realfootball
Guest
We will miss him greatly. One of the great pleasures of games at Suncorp over the last 4 years has been the sight of Franjic heading for the opposition byline at 100kmph. On his day he was simply unstoppable. Strength, pace and technique. Thanks Ivan.
Aljay
Guest
Awesome news for a bloke who was working as a tradie 4 years ago, now on probably close to a million a year.
matthew_gently
Guest
Broich and Berisha have taken most of the media's attention at the Roar over the last 3-4 seasons, but Franjic has been immense. It's been a privilege to watch him develop into one of the most complete players in the league. Good luck to him, but, at the same time, I'm just a little bit sad.
BES
Guest
Brisbane already had a replacement organised before letting him go - Daniel Bowles is a specialist RB who started with Brisbane in their Youth League and has now been brought back to offer backup and competition to Jack Hingert who you would have to think would be 1st choice to step up into the position he has already covered on numerous occasions. Franjic will definitely be missed, even more so for his unpredictable scoring threat. Opposition players never did quite know when and where he was going to pop up and score from.
nordster
Guest
Good move, and contrary to some reactionary views a nice place to be. (But lets not get too political when interacting with folks who get their info from limited sources, steady on nordster:p ) If Ivan wants an entourage Eric Murphy style manager or anything ;) ...i dont know russian yet but are willing to learn. I can start on russian copies of Ayn rand's 'we the living' or some Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Shouldnt get me thrown in the gulag, these days.