Andrej Ilic: Union Berlin's new striker with opportunities and challenges

Andrej Ilic: Union Berlin's new striker with opportunities and challenges

Andrej Ilic, the new attacker of Union Berlin, steals the show on the first day - despite his handicaps from the injury history. Sports director Horst Heldt is enthusiastic about the 24-year-old Serbian player and accelerates the doubts of the supporters with his positive words about the newcomer.

On Friday evening, Ilic visited the stadium on the old forester's shop to watch the narrow 1-0 home win against FC St. Pauli. The atmosphere of the fans, who praised him as a "football god", aroused a lot of hope for the striker's new beginning. However, he was not able to demonstrate his actual skills in the field at short notice, since his last use for the French Champions League participant OSC Lille was only sporadic.

The challenge of the injuries

The question remains to what extent Ilic can quickly integrate into the performance of the team. A broken fabric recently had thrown the talented player out of game, and in the past few months he was only active for two short appearances in Lille. Therefore, he does not bring an extensive game practice to the Iron in the Wuhlheide.

he previously showed his best performances in the Ligen Latvia and Norway, where he can show impressive torquots. In Latvia, Ilic scored 42 goals and gave 17 templates in 87 missions. Such statistics are the springboard for his career, which now leads him to the Bundesliga. According to Heldt, the time is ripe for the striker to develop his potential and to reinforce the Union's offensive.

The fears among fans are not unfounded. Ilic comes with a handicap, but Managing Director Heldt clarifies: "He has survived an injury that has now healed." He describes Ilic as an "opportunity for us" and sees him great potential that could be decisive this season.

The new style of play by Union Berlin

With its impressive size of 1.89 meters, Ilic is characterized as a "wedge striker", a kind of player that the team urgently needs on the offensive. Heldt, not the biggest player himself, underlines the difference between him and Ilic and hopes that the new striker will quickly fit into the game system.

In the expected competition, it will be exciting how Ilic can assert himself against the American Jordan Siebatcheu, who was able to convince only to a limited extent in the game against St. Pauli in the double storm. He is accused of missing the required force in the game that the coaches of Union Berlin demands. Only with a solid defensive and a few shots on the gate could secure the iron victory against St. Pauli.

For Heldt, the question now arises whether Ilic has a risk or whether he is the surprise transfer of the season. This decision could prove to be a clever if Ilic made the breakthrough in the Bundesliga. In recent years, Union Berlin has repeatedly shown that they can sign unconventional players and develop their talents.

The fans can be excited to see how Ilic has time during the coming international break to better synchronize with the Berlin team. On September 14th there is the next competitive game in which Union meets a strong opponent at RB Leipzig - a real test for the new man in the striker position.