Austrian Bundesliga debuts don't come any better! Our summer signing Kerim Alajbegovic had already made one start in the cup before being handed a start in the league and promptly scoring again. He also put in a strong overall performance against GAK that included an assist.

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The 17-year-old has been in Salzburg for barely over a month, but has immediately made an impression. You don't have to watch the midfield specialist for long to recognise his obvious qualities. The ferocious talent impresses with his creativity, speed, exceptionally polished technique and willingness to give everything for the team.

Kerim's path in football began in his home city of Cologne before he moved a few kilometres north to Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. The comparison is obvious: that this can be a path to greatness was already demonstrated by a certain Florian Wirtz, who developed at these two German giants, is a similar type of player, and certainly knows how to star on the big stage.

But back to Kerim: The German and Bosnian dual national never made a first-team appearance for the German runners-up, but the 17-year-old had been in the first-team matchday squad several times under Xabi Alonso and also shone with strong performances for the U19s – including against our Young Bulls in the UEFA Youth League. After moving over the border to Salzburg, the youngster is already making a strong impression in professional football.

Our new signing isn't the only footballer in his family. His father was once a professional, and his 16-year-old cousin, Kenan Vrban (also an attacking midfielder) is already in the first team of Bosnian first division club FK Sarajevo despite his young age. Speaking of Bosnia: the native land of his family is who our summer signing has represented at all youth international levels, most recently the U21 team.

Our young attacker has shown he keeps his word. When he joined us, Kerim announced that he would enjoy shooting from distance, which he duly did (successfully) several times against GAK, capping it off with a stunning goal. That should be a taste of what we can expect more of in the future, but of course, with such a young player, we will give him all the time he needs to develop!

I couldn't have imagined a better first start! We struggled a bit at the beginning, and they were defending deep, but then we played very well thanks to the quality of the whole team – we're very happy to take the three points! The opening goal just before half-time came at a good time. Now I'm looking forward to continuing to work with the team.

Kerim Alajbegovic

to the match report

This is Kerim Alajbegovic