Today, a press conference was held on the occasion of the presentation of three new players of Istra 1961, namely Luka Bradarić, Filip Antovski and Lovre Knežević. The sports director, Mr. Saša Bjelanović presented the players at the conference.

Thank you all for coming, the subject of the conference is the introduction of new players. I know Luka from Hajduk, and as captain of the junior team last season. He is a player we can count on for a long period of time, and he will certainly be of great use to us in the stopper position. Then there is Filip Antovski, the captain of the young Macedonian national team and a quality left winger. There is also a buyout option in his contract, which we will potentially use at the end of the season. And finally, Lovre Knežević – a striker who started his football journey quite early outside his hometown of Zadar, and last season he scored 15 goals in the Bulgarian second league. We are still assembling the team and we hope that all the new players will settle in possibly by the start of the season, said Mr. Bjelanović at the press conference.

Primarily, I think that we need to stay in the league, and then also get the best possible place in the table with as many points as possible. I hope that we will start the first game without problems and as a team. I like it in Pula because the city is quite similar to Split, and I also like my own step up from junior to senior football, said Luka.

I am sure that coming to Istra is a good choice for me. It is a first tier and much stronger league, and I hope that we will have good results. The most important thing for me is respect within the club and to be happy here, and I will do my best on the field, Filip said at the conference.

I am very happy and I would like to thank Mr. Bjelanović for giving me a great opportunity to come here and prove myself. This is certainly a step forward in my career and I expect attractive and attacking football from Istra. After eight years I returned to Croatia – I am glad that I came to a club with tradition and one of the most beautiful stadiums in the country, Lovre said.

#ForzaIstra