Oršić ready to realise Premier League dream
Mislav Oršić says he is living his boyhood dream by coming to the Premier League to sign for Southampton.
The Croatia international, who starred at the World Cup in helping his country claim the bronze medal in Qatar, has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at St Mary’s.
The attacking midfielder, who turned 30 last week, struck an impressive 91 goals in 216 appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, including a hat-trick against Tottenham in the Europa League in 2021 and a winning goal against Chelsea in this season’s Champions League.
“I feel very happy to be here,” Oršić said. “I think it’s a dream for every football player to come to play in the Premier League and I’m here, I’m ready, I’m motivated and I hope that I will help the team to achieve their goals.
“When you grow up watching football, all the time the Premier League is on the TV, the best league in the world and of course you dream about it.
“You hope one day you will go there. Now this has happened to me, I’m really happy. This is like I always imagined: a big club in England, all the time playing in the Premier League.
“Now it’s a little bit of a difficult situation for the club, but I think we need to stay together. We have only one plan – everybody to stay in the Premier League, we need to work hard every day and I hope that at the end of the year we will be happy.”
Oršić, who stated he feels most comfortable operating as a left winger, has played in Italy, Slovenia, South Korea and China, as well as his native Croatia.
“It was a really, really long way – some strange way of a career for a football player, but I’m really happy to be here and it’s really nice,” he said.
“It was a really long few days for me, but I’m just happy to be here. I wanted to finish the obligations fast so I can go to the pitch and start training.
“When I come here to the camp, it’s amazing, and I’m sure I will really enjoy my time here.”
