Latest news with #MTKBudapest
The South African
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Kaizer Chiefs to sign and announce Polievka?
All eyes are on Kaizer Chiefs. If not Fiston Mayele, who will be the chosen striker coming to Naturena in the Betway Premiership next season? According to this latest report, Nasreddine Nabi has eyes on a European striker. The name is Robert Polievka from Krupina, Slovakia. Sportswire, this new Kaizer Chiefs striker, Polievka, is still contracted to the Hungarian club MTK Budapest until 2027. He has scored four goals in 26 games for them. Big call for Pitso to return to Sundowns Kaizer Chiefs' Sporting Director Kaizer Motuang Jr with the head coach Nasreddine Nabi. Image: Citizen Transfer news: Mako said 'yes' to Chiefs and 'no' to Pirates 'Sportswire can confirm that Kaizer Chiefs are interested in the Slovakian attacker Robert Polievka,' the outlet reported. 'However, for Chiefs to acquire him from MTK Budapest in Hungary, they will need to pay a transfer fee, as his contract expires in 2027,' the report added. In the meantime, the Glamour Boys are still linked with Fiston Mayele at Egyptian club Pyramids FC, where he scored 18 goals and made two assists in 38 matches in the past season. Another striker mentioned as a target for Kaizer Chiefs is Simba SC's Jean Charles Ahoua, who has managed 15 goals and seven assists in 23 games in all competitions. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
10 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Kaizer Chiefs eye Slovakian forward but fans not impressed
Kaizer Chiefs have set their sights on Slovakian attacker Robert Polievka, currently playing for MTK Budapest in Hungary, according to Sportswire . The club aims to strengthen its front line ahead of a crucial season, with continental football on the horizon. However, the pursuit won't come cheap. Polievka remains under contract with MTK Budapest until 2027, meaning Amakhosi will need to pay a transfer fee to secure his services. Despite being a forward, Polievka's goal return does little to inspire confidence. He has managed just four goals in 26 matches across all competitions, a tally far from what Chiefs supporters might expect from a potential frontline spearhead. Kaizer Chiefs find themselves in need of a proven centre-forward after parting ways with Ranga Chivaviro. The former Marumo Gallants striker looked promising early last season, netting two goals in his first three appearances. However, his game time dwindled as the season progressed, prompting the club to allow his contract to lapse at the end of June. Amakhosi will be desperate to avoid another disappointing league campaign. They finished ninth this past season, missing out on a top-eight finish for the second year running. The club's leading scorers, Wandile Duba and Glody Lilepo, only managed five goals each, with Lilepo joining midway through the season. There's renewed optimism at Naturena following their Nedbank Cup triumph, which ended a decade-long trophy drought. The victory also secured Chiefs a spot in next season's CAF Confederation Cup, heightening the urgency to reinforce the squad with quality signings. 'We're looking to better our attack and Polievka is one of the players we're monitoring closely for a while,' a source revealed. Should Kaizer Chiefs sign Robert Polievka? Let us know by leaving a comment below or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
Press and Journal
30-04-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Sean Wallace: Could Nicolas Milanovic be Aberdeen's next Bojan Miovski?
Aberdeen's expansive scouting network has stretched to the other side of the world with the club set to sign Australian winger Nicolas Milanovic. The 23-year-old will move to the Dons on a multi-year deal at the end of the season. Aberdeen are set to pay A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers around £400,000 to land the Australian under-23 international. Milanovic is one of the hottest talents in Australian football and is in the race to win the A-League Golden Boot award with 12 goals this season. The winger has been key in Western Sydney Wanderers' best season in a decade where they are in contention for the title. Milanovic is tipped to break into the Australian senior squad and turned down potential moves to Europe last year after a breakthrough season. Such is the winger's reputation former Australian international Tommy Oar recently said Wester Sydney Wanderers should sell him for 'millions'. So it appears landing Milanovic for £400,000 is fantastic business by Aberdeen. It is a deal reminiscent of the Dons' capture of Miovski from Hungarian top flight club MTK Budapest in summer 2022. MTK Budapest rejected an offer of €1.2 million (£1.03m) in summer 2021 from Rapid Vienna for the striker. A number of clubs including Czech Republic outfit Slavia Prague were keen on signing Miovski in January 2023 but were quoted a price of around £1.5m. Aberdeen beat off competition from clubs in Belgium, Russia, Hungary, Switzerland and Poland to sign Miovski. The Dons were able to sign the striker for the bargain fee of £545,000 following MTK Budapest's relegation from the top flight. Dropping down into the second tier sparked a fire-sale of the club's overseas players, including Miovski and Ylber Ramadani who the Reds also bought for £100,000. Aberdeen capitalised on a clause in Hungarian football where any club relegated from the top-flight must offload their overseas talent. Signing Miovski and Ramadani at cut-down prices was a masterstroke by the Dons. They were both the perfect embodiment of Aberdeen's player trading model. Secure players with potential to hit higher levels, get a season or two of high performance out of them in the first team, then sell for a considerable profit. Ramadani delivered one superb season before being sold to Italian Serie A club Lecce for £1.1m. North Macedonian Miovski scored 18 times in his debut campaign then followed that up with 26 goals last season. Miovski was sold to Spanish La Liga club last summer in a deal that could land the Dons up to £9million with potential add-ons and sell-on. There is a sense Aberdeen could have secured a similar bargain with Milanovic who can shine at Pittodrie before being sold for a major profit. That will be the hope within Pittodrie as boss Jimmy Thelin begins his bid to further strengthen the squad for next season. Aberdeen are spreading the net around the globe in the search for talent to fit their player trading model. Boss Thelin is working in conjunction with head of recruitment Nuno de Almeida to source signings for the summer transfer window. Aberdeen are also set to hire former Tottenham full-back and Swedish international Erik Edman as a scout. At the club's AGM chief executive Alan Burrows also said the club hoped the strategic partnership with Atlanta United could help source targets in the South American market. The net is being spread far and wide in the hope of finding the next Miovski that can shine in the first team and deliver a massive profit. And they may have found one in Milanovic.
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
The rise of Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool's No 10 reviving Hungary's famous football legacy
Hungary is hardly short of football royalty, but you have to go back generations to a time when the Mighty Magyars boasted some of the most regal talent in global football. Little wonder then, that Dominik Szoboszlai 's performances in the Liverpool midfield have been a source of enormous national pride in Budapest and beyond this season. Hungary's football-crazy public suddenly have a modern role model that young footballers are falling over themselves to emulate, a fact that MTK Budapest's academy chief, Zsolt Szekely, witnesses first hand every time he goes onto the training pitch at one of the country's most famous football institutions. Szekely was Szoboszlai's coach during his time in the Hungarian capital and although he's quick to downplay his own role in developing a player he describes as 'special', he can't overstate just how big an impact he continues to have at MTK – nine years after leaving the club. 'The fact that he's the best player at Liverpool has a great impact in Hungary - the players see they have the chance for such a career,' he tells the Independent. 'So many children are starting to play football because of him.' That's hardly surprising given his recent performances at Anfield. The 24-year-old has been outstanding in Arne Slot 's midfield as Liverpool have continued to set the pace, both in the Premier League and in Europe. For a country which has been lacking in outstanding exports since the golden age of the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti and Zoltan Czibor, Szoboszlai's performances have set pulses racing in this corner of Eastern Europe. And Szekely explains that the rise of a player signed by Liverpool for a reported £60m from RB Leipzig in July 2023, carries deep symbolism at MTK. 'To be honest, it's a little bit funny,' he says. 'As we won 6-3 against England (at Wembley in November 1953), we played a special football style that came from Jimmy Hogan. 'He was the coach of MTK Budapest - he was the first to play the MTK style and the national team played the same way. Now we're doing that again, we're playing the same way. 'Every team at MTK plays in the same style, they call it the Barcelona style, but it's not, it's MTK style! 'Are there similarities between Szoby and Puskas? Well, I think he's something special. He can be the next Puksas but he doesn't want to be, he only wants to be the first Szoby.' There will be plenty of future players, inside and outside of Hungary, modelling their game on a midfield dynamo whose battery never appears in danger of running flat. 'His energy is incredible,' says Georges Leekens, the former Hungary manager who first brought Szoboszlai into the international fold. 'He was very young, but you could see that he had this vision, this ability to create something. You could see that this was a player of the future. 'In Hungary, it's tough. You think of football and you automatically think of the great names of the past, it's like every Hungarian team is compared to that Puskas team. But you can't keep looking back – you have to look to the future and you have to create a team with your own players. 'He was brought in (to the senior Hungarian set-up) early, maybe too early, but that's better than waiting too long in my opinion. 'You learn by playing matches, you learn by playing against the biggest countries in world football. For me, he's a leader – and these players don't come along very often. He was too young to take the national team in his hands back then. Now, as I think you've seen with Liverpool this season, he's ready.' Szoboszlai was named Hungary's captain in November 2022 and skippered the side at Euro 2024 in Germany last summer, the third successive time the country has reached the European Championship finals. Now, all eyes are on him again as Hungary attempt to make it to a World Cup for the first time since 1986. '40 years is a very long time – there are generations of Hungary football fans who have never seen us at the tournament,' says Gabor Kiraly, the former Crystal Palace keeper and a man who won 108 caps for his country. 'If we're going to get to the World Cup again then it's pretty clear that Dominik is going to be key for us. He's a very special guy, and a very special footballer. 'I think, during my time, Zoltan Gera, who played for West Brom and Fulham was probably the outstanding player, but for this generation there's only one player that the kids are pretending to be on the playground or on the training pitch, and that's Szoboszlai.' Szekely recalls that if the Liverpool midfielder lacked one quality as a young player, it was pace. That's no longer a concern. Everything else, meanwhile, was in place long before he left MTK and signed for Red Bull Salzburg. He would make his full professional debut in Austria's second tier for FC Liefering, the club's reserve team, in August 2017. By 2019/20 he was named the player of the season in the Austrian Bundesliga. 'He would work so hard with his father,' says Szekely. 'He would train before training and then train again as soon as training had finished. His dad and him would work, work, work. Dominik wouldn't have a smart phone, he wouldn't have a Facebook profile – it was football, football, football!' Watching him play, you get the feeling that it's almost a disappointment every time the referee blows the full-time whistle, and that given the choice, he would just continue having a kickabout on the pitch with a few Anfield season-ticket holders instead of showering off and heading home. The hours and hours of work have paid off handsomely. And as Liverpool close in on the title, this very modern midfielder is providing a timely reminder that Hungary's future could one day be as bright as its glittering past.
