Kezman denies transfer rumours
Friday, November 30, 2001
Article summary
PSV Eindhoven striker Mateja Kezman has spoken to uefa.com about speculation surrounding a possible move from the Philips stadium.
Article body
As one of the continent's most promising talents, Yugoslavian striker Mateja Kezman is continually linked with a transfer from PSV Eindhoven to one of Europe's richest clubs, with Real Madrid CF and Milan AC reportedly the 22-year-old's latest suitors.
Shot to prominence
But Kezman, who shot to prominence when scoring 28 goals for FK Partizan in his homeland during the 1999/2000 season, has told uefa.com that he has no desire to quit the Philips stadium - in the short term at least. "I am thinking of a change, but I will not leave PSV before June," he said.
Pivotal figure
Kezman featured in all six of the Dutch champions' UEFA Champions League first group stage matches this season, scoring twice, in a 3-1 home win over Galatasaray SK and 2-1 defeat by S.S. Lazio, and he will be a pivotal figure if the club are to progress in the UEFA Cup.
'This is nonsense'
He was on the bench for the first leg of PSV's third-round tie against FC PAOK Thessaloniki, a 3-2 reverse in Greece. Coach Erik Gerets's decision to start with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Arnold Bruggink in attack led to stories that Kezman was unhappy in Eindhoven, something the player refutes as "nonsense". "Newspapers write anything," said Kezman. "I read I am bored of my present club because I stayed on the bench for three matches. This is nonsense."
Technical excellence
Equally adept with both feet, there is little doubt that Kezman possesses the technical excellence to be a success in Italian football and the player confirmed that representatives of Milan AC watched him in action against AFC Ajax in the Amsterdam ArenA recently.
Zagreb striker
PSV have been tracking NK Dinamo Zagreb striker Dario Zahora and reports suggest that Milan could sign the gifted Croatian and then offer him to PSV as bait in attempt to lure Kezman to the Giuseppe Meazza stadium.
Massive outlay
A €16m signing from Yugoslavian football following EURO 2000™, PSV would hope to recoup substantially more than that for a player who top-scored in the Eredivisie last season should Kezman move on at the end of the current campaign, be it to Milan or elsewhere.
