A transfer is always a dime on its side. One bull’s eye is usually matched by several transfer flops. Not every transfer has been successful at Club Brugge and KRC Genk either. According to the Italian journalist Nicolo Schira, the two Belgian top clubs are showing concrete interest in David Strelec (21, Spezia), but Club Brugge and Genk better think twice before they really press for the Slovak attacker …
GOOD START…
Slovakia is not a big hotbed of football talent, but every now and then a promising player pops up. David Strelec is one of them. The center striker made a big impression at Slovan Bratislava, where he showed himself as a complete striker with great physical capabilities. He made his debut as a 17-year-old in the Slovak first division, so that Strelec gained a lot of experience at the highest level at a young age. His strengths lie mainly in the physical field as a target man who wins many duels against the enemy defenses.
At Slovan Bratislava he also showed excellent positioning in the box, in which he easily lost his goalkeeper. With a composure in front of goal, David Strelec also easily scored a goal in the Fortuna Liga. The left-footed striker also contributes to the football field. The combination of these qualities ensure that Strelec has been described as a complete striker. At least for the level of the Slovak league, because after three seasons with Slovan Bratislava, the striker was far from a finished product.
… HAS BEEN HALF WON
Despite his working points, David Strelec left for the big Serie A in the summer of 2021. Spezia Calcio paid 1.8 million or 2.5 million euros for the Slovak attacker, depending on the source, but in Italy he did not originally get a job under Thiago Motta. The Brazilian Italian mainly reproached Strelec that he defended too little and that he does not cover the right areas. And also under the current coach Luca Gotti, the striker hardly gets a job. As a result, Strelec is linked to a departure from the Stadio Alberto Picco.
The well-known transfer watcher Nicolo Schira reports that David Strelec can leave Spezia Calcio in January and that Club Brugge and KRC Genk are the two most concrete options today. Last season, Schalke 04 and TSG Hoffenheim also showed interest in the 21-year-old striker, but then Spezia stuck to a minimum transfer amount of no less than 15 million euros. That was too high an amount for the two German clubs and for Club Brugge and KRC Genk that is of course no small change either. In addition, Strelec is absolutely not worth that amount today.
FAR FROM READY
David Strelec is more often on the bench than on the field and also in his home country there are big question marks about the Slovakian striker. Vladimir Weiss, coach of Slovan Bratislava, thought that Strelec moved abroad much too early. “He has talent, but he still needs to develop. He is not a player who is ready for ‘big’ football”, Weiss suggested in the Slovak press. Analyst Ladislav Borbély even found the transfer to Serie A completely illogical.
“Everyone is saying what a talent David Strelec is. I don’t know what talent is. I have not seen him score regularly and play well in a series of three or more games in a row. A footballer who leaves Slovakia and goes to Calcio must have played several successful seasons to justify his transfer,” Ladislav Borbély told Sport.sk. “If he scored 15 goals in 30 games, for example, then we could talk about quality.”
HORROR SCENARIO
Ladislav Borbély and Vladimir Weiss are provisionally right in their prediction about David Strelec. The 21-year-old needs to be able to play on a weekly basis to develop his intrinsic talent, which has not been the case for two seasons. The question is therefore whether Strelec could play a significant role at the top of the Jupiler Pro League. Club Brugge and KRC Genk aim for the very highest and the two Belgian top clubs also want to play a more prominent role in Europe. Strelec may have the intrinsic qualities to become a level player, but today he is not. And he is certainly not worth 15 million euros …
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