Darko plans to set Juve alight
Football Italia - August 1999
Juventus had a busy month immediately after the last game of the season, completing deals with Dutch international goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Saar from Ajax and with Bari for Italy midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta. After a series of scares over his arrival in Turin, the club also signed Real Sociedad striker Darko Kovacevic.
At the start of June it looked like the deal was set in stone. Then out of the blue, a couple of days before the player was due to arrive, one of his old agents popped up claiming that only he could allow the Yugoslav to sign. Juve seemed set for another fiasco like that which plagued the club in January when they were looking for a striker to replace the injured Alessandro Del Piero. However, thanks to Juve's highly experienced General Manager Luciano Moggi, a deal was eventually struck.
The Yugoslavian international striker was bought for close on �12m mid-June. At that price there must be a few sick club officials at Sheffield Wednesday, who let him go to Spain for just over �2m then saw him score all four goals in Yugoslavia's 4-1 defeat of Malta in May in a Euro 2000 qualifier. After spending three seasons at Real Sociedad, where last season he scored 18 goals, Kovacevic is looking forward to playing in Italy. The riotous background of double deals and tentative talks are over and the player himself is obviously overjoyed: "I'm so glad everything has been cleared up. Footballers dream of playing for a club like Juventus and I have been lucky enough to fulfil mine. It's my chance to set my career alight and I consider it a real honour to play alongside people like Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi. It's a happy time for me especially with the war back home ending.
"At the moment the hope is that everything goes to plan and peace will at last come to my country. It has interupted everything, with football particularly hit hard. But now all I must do is concentrate on Juventus. I don't want to boast but I think I do deserve some credit for my past work. I have scored many goals, gritted my teeth against all sorts of odds and come out on top. I am the sort of striker who will sacrifice myself for the team," he says.
Yet with Del Piero hopefully back for the Bianconeri, it may be that the new boy starts his love affair with the Old Lady on the bench. However, with an ability to play in several forward roles, the Yugoslav will get his chance. "If I want to really make my mark in Italian football I have to be in Juve's first team. Like every other footballer in the world I don't like being on the bench. I have come here to play and to fight for Juventus. Their style is my style," he adds.
One thing in his favour is that he does know several Juve players already. "I don't think I will have much trouble settling in as I know Zoran Mirkovic. He played for Partizan Belgrade while I was at Red Star and we play in the national team together. He is a very important player and a serious sort of chap. Another friend of mine is Juan Esnaider, who made his mark in Spain. I hope he can better that form with Juve. I know that I will be trying my very best to prove to those that had faith in me at the top were right."
