Former Hertha player Prevljak moves to Istra Pula

New start in Croatia: Smail Prevljak moves to NK Istra 1961. IMAGO/Jan Huebner

When Smail Prevljak arrived in Berlin after Hertha's relegation in the summer of 2023, expectations were high. Sporting director Benjamin Weber called the new signing an "important building block for our team" at the time, saying: "He is a technically strong player who has proven his goalscoring ability at his previous positions and in the Bosnian national team."

In Berlin, however, Prevljak left much to be desired (31 second-division appearances/5 goals) – and also suffered from the fact that just a few weeks after his signing, another striker, Haris Tabakovic, was brought in. He hit the ground running and became the second-division top scorer. Prevljak's contract in Berlin expired on June 30th, and now the Bosnian international (27 caps/6 goals) has a new club: Croatian first-division side NK Istra 1961.

The 30-year-old is looking to build on his strong tenure in Belgium with Croatia's sixth-place finish last year, where he scored 35 goals and provided 11 assists in 92 Belgian Jupiler Pro League matches for Eupen between January 2020 and summer 2023. Prevljak played for RB Leipzig's U19 team in 2013/14, then made his professional breakthrough in Austria. He scored 28 goals in 67 Austrian Bundesliga matches for Liefering, Mattersburg, and Red Bull Salzburg, and scored 24 goals in 45 Austrian second-division appearances.

Now, after two disappointing years in Berlin, the man whose former coach Marco Rose once called him a "sly fox" and credited him with "a keen nose for scoring goals" wants to make a fresh start in Pula. "We've been looking for a player of this profile for a long time, because Smail is not only effective in the opponent's penalty area, but also demonstrates quality in team play," says sporting director Sasa Bjelanovic: "Smail's career speaks volumes. He's a goal-scoring striker who has proven himself at every club."