Borna’s ready to six-pack bags and sign for a top EPL team
RANGERS Ibrox star’s mentor tips him to head down south for a step up
THE Croatian national team boasts a squad of players from clubs that read like a who’s who of world football.
Now the man who helped transform the career of Borna Barisic reckons the Rangers full-back is ready to step up and join his most storied countrymen at the highest level.
Barisic, 27, boasts international pals such as Dejan Lovren, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic from clubs including Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich.
NK Osijek sporting director Alen Petrovic caught up with Barisic only a couple of weeks ago when the Ibrox favourite joined with former club-mates in his hometown for a game of foot tennis.
Barisic arrived back in Glasgow last week wearing a face mask to protect against Covid-19 but Petrovic believes he will g.ralston@dailyrecord.co.uk soon be breathing the rarefied air of the highest reaches of the game. He was linked with a £7million move to Roma earlier this year and the arrival of young left-back Calvin Bassey from Leicester City may be an indicator Rangers are ready to allow one of their most prized assets to depart in the coming weeks. But Petrovic sees the
Premier League as a more likely destination than Italy’s top flight.
He said: “I am not surprised that Borna is being linked with a move to Serie A but I would be surprised if English clubs didn’t make an attempt to take him to the Premier League.
“At what level? Well, let me ask – what are the limits of a starter for the Croatian national team? Frankly, there are no limits but it’s the clubs who need to judge.
“Borna is ready to take the next step in his career but I’m speaking now as a fan and a friend and not in my official capacity.
“He’s ready for the Premier League. It would be a big surprise if he ends up in some other league, not least because he is already playing in the United Kingdom.”
Petrovic could be forgiven for eyeing up the sizable sum his club would command as a sell-on after they transferred him to Rangers almost two years ago for £2.2m.
After all, Osijek are currently in the middle of a rebuild on and off the field.
They are pushing for one of two Champions League spots available to clubs in the Croatian top flight after it resumed last weekend and are also constructing a new stadium and training ground.
GARY RALSTON
Petrovic added: “I’ve known Borna since he was a boy and watched him every week from under-14 level in my first spell as sporting director at Osijek.
“At that age, many kids explode on to the scene but Borna has built his