Back-up goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic has detailed a disagreement he had with Aston Villa prior to sealing his season-long loan move to boyhood club Hajduk Split. In an interview after his unveiling, Kalinic revealed Villa’s plan to sell him this summer rather than to loan him back out, a proposal Dean Smith’s first-ever signing rejected.
Lovre Kalinic said: “I will repeat for the umpteenth time what Hajduk means to me and my family, especially what it means to be the captain of such a large club. Negotiations were long, it started a few months ago, Aston Villa postponed until the end of the European Championship, they planned to sell me somewhere. But my thoughts and wishes were directed only towards Hajduk and, in the end, we managed to agree to co-operate for another year. I believe in these guys, we are all going to roll up our sleeves and I have no doubt that we will do very good things this season.”
Lovre Kalinic said: “I will repeat for the umpteenth time what Hajduk means to me and my family, especially what it means to be the captain of such a large club. Negotiations were long, it started a few months ago, Aston Villa postponed until the end of the European Championship, they planned to sell me somewhere. But my thoughts and wishes were directed only towards Hajduk and, in the end, we managed to agree to co-operate for another year. I believe in these guys, we are all going to roll up our sleeves and I have no doubt that we will do very good things this season.”Kalinic cost Villa £5.4 million after his transfer from KAA Gent in January 2019. He signed a four-and-a-half year contract up until 2023, meaning he’ll have 12 months left on his Aston Villa deal once his 2021/22 loan stint at Split concludes next summer.
