Cufré sold on Zagreb ambition

NK Dinamo Zagreb have high hopes for the forthcoming UEFA Europa League group stage campaign and their new high-profile signing, former Argentinian international Leandro Cufré.

Roma honour
Cufré became the tenth foreign recruit by the Croatian champions after joining from AS Monaco FC in a two-year deal but the man capped four times by Argentina is arguably the most recognisable. Now 31, he arrived in Europe seven years ago in a deal that cost AS Roma €5m, their outlay soon paying dividends and Cufré was voted best defender in Italy in 2005. He moved to Monaco the following summer and made 60 Ligue 1 appearances before a loan spell with Hertha BSC Berlin last season.

Zagreb beauty
Yet Cufré feels more at home in Zagreb than any the cities his career has taken him to and believes the club have the ambition to match his own. "Zagreb left an incredible impression on me," he said. "It's one of the nicest places I have seen – and I have travelled a lot and lived in a lot of cities. One of the reasons I came to Dinamo was to play in European competition. It's an opportunity to compete with the best sides and players. The team have high aspirations, they have quality and great fans. When I was looking for a new club it was very important that I joined a club with big plans."

Inspired discipline
There is a cosmopolitan atmosphere around a club that now contains three Argentinians in Cufré, Adrian Calello and Luis Ibáñez, Brazilians Etoo, Sammir and Carlos, Chilean Pedro Morales, Cameroonian Mathias Chago, Czech Miroslav Slepička and Greek striker Dimitris Papadopoulos, but coach Krunoslav Jurčić insists Cufré offers something different. "I'm sorry Cufré hasn't joined Dinamo before," he said. "But finally now we have a combination of a skilled player and a man with a discipline. Everyone can learn a lot from a player like that." Dinamo begin their UEFA Europa League campaign at home to RSC Anderlecht on 17 September.