Former Qantas Socceroos defender Ljubo Milicevic has ended months of speculation on his future by re-signing with the Newcastle Jets until the end of the 2010/11 Hyundai A-League season.
Milicevic had been linked to a move to China while it was also rumoured he may return to his hometown of Melbourne to join new A-League franchise the Melbourne Heart.
However, it was the ‘homely’ feel of Newcastle and the opportunity to build on an impressive season that kept him at the Jets.
“The boys, the club, and obviously the supporters and people around town made me feel really welcomed when I first arrived and so it didn’t take me too long to settle in and obviously I’ve made some good friends there, in and outside of the club,” he said.
“So I’m enjoying my football there and hopefully with another year we can keep improving, or go one better and improve on what we achieved this year.”
Milicevic also singled out his partnership with fellow Jets defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley as another reason he was looking forward to next season with the Novocastrian club.
“I think Nikolai had a great season, and with the help of either Ben Kennedy or Neil Young behind us and also the boys on the left and right side, hopefully we can strike up a good defence next season,” said Milicevic.
“I’m very confident that we can have an even better year next year.”
With six caps for the Australian national team under his belt and with experience at the highest level of European club football through the UEFA Champions League, Milicevic is also eyeing a push to the national team for next year’s Asian Cup..
“When we start our pre-season we’ll sit down and set our goals as a team and individually as well, but obviously you want to be improving every year individually and collectively as a team,” he said.
Milicevic’s signature punctuates a significant retention drive by the Jets, with the big defender becoming the ninth player to be re-signed by the Hunter-based club since October last year including Michael Bridges, Tarek Elrich, Adam D’Apuzzo, Labinot Haliti, Ben Kennedy, Marko Jesic, Young and Ali Abbas.
