Meet the New Simunic, and A Few Others

By: Abby | July 27th, 2009

So, after a bit of the standard transfer hemming and hawing, we’ve got our man. 21-year-old Nemanja Pejcinovic, billed as the ‘new Josip Simunic’ by some in the press, has joined Hertha after impressing Lulu in a week-long trial. While at one point it seemed like the deal wouldn’t go through, something was worked out between FK Rad in Belgrade and Hertha.

Which is? A two-year loan, with options for a three-year buy. We’ve done a lot of loans of late, which isn’t all that surprising for a club in Hertha’s financial situation. It lessens the financial burden a bit and lets us make sure that the players are right for us before they’re put on a longer contract. They don’t always work out- our mid-season loaners have all gone away- but sometimes it does rather nicely. Cicero’s just been signed permanently, for example. The versatile and talented Brazilian had a great last season with us, not to mention having a great name that is well-suited for a blogger to make jokes out of. (Loans work the other way as well- another Brazilian, Rodnei, is off to Kaiserslautern.)

Anyway. Pejčinović. He’s apparently quite talented, has one cap for the Serbian national team, and he impressed everyone on trial, so that’s enough for me. While he probably won’t be Simunic, it’s nice to have his position filled on the squad. He’ll take the number 5 jersey. I wish him the best of luck at Hertha.

He’s not been the only youngster on trial of late. I already mentioned Andre Dede Ayew, the 19-year-old Ghanian, but we’re also checking out a 20-year-old Croatian named Ivan Perisic. He’s visiting us from FC Sochaux, and spent last year on loan at KSV Roeselare in Belgium.

It’s not all transfer potentials. The friendly against cult-club extraordinaire St. Pauli came and went, with a 2-2 draw that has the papers questioning our defense. And Lulu as well, to be fair. With Pejčinović committed we may be looking for another, taller defender to more aptly duplicate Josip Simunic. He’s certainly going to be difficult to replace, but we all knew that.

This weekend is the first competitive game of the season, the DFB-Pokal game against Preußen Münster. They currently play in the Regionaliga West, but in his way, Lulu is being a bit negative. I do like seeing him take everything seriously.

And, it’s also been a birthday! As of Saturday, Hertha turns 117. Many happy returns to our beloved Old Lady.