Eli Babalj is set to debut for Red Star Belgrade in the Europa Leaue after Melbourne Heart confirmed they received their final payment.
Melbourne Heart have received their final instalment from Red Star Belgrade for Eli Babalj, paving the way for the Australia youth international to debut for the Serbian club in theur Europa League tie with Bordeaux on Thursday.
Heart football operations manager John Didulica dispelled rumours Babalj could return to the Hyundai A-League club after the resignation of Red Star manager Robert Prosinecki on Monday.
Reports had claimed Serbian SuperLiga powerhouse Red Star were having trouble meeting the terms of the transfer, but Didulica revealed there had been just one outstanding payment left in the transfer of the 20-year-old forward.
Heart chief executive officer Scott Munn took to Twitter to confirm Babalj’s transfer had been processed, with Red Star’s new No.9 now free to debut in the Europa League play-off round against Ligue 1 side Bordeaux.
“Confirming we have approved transfer of Eli this afternoon. Pretty confident he will debut for Red Star tomorrow (Thursday) night,” Munn wrote on Twitter.
Babalj’s move to Red Star – reportedly for a sum of $600,000 – was announced on June 7.
Born in Sarajevo, the 194cm striker – who was Heart’s leading scorer in the 2011/12 campaign – has been likened to former Socceroo Mark Viduka and has represented Australia at Under-20 level.
