“We want to return to the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina after 15 seasons, and no one will stop us on that path,” said Igor Radeljić, director of Football Club Laktaši, in an interview with “Glas Srpske.”
The first-division team from Laktaši finished the first part of the season in the elite league of Republika Srpska as autumn champions with 40 points—three more than Rudar Prijedor and six ahead of Zvijezda 09. Everyone at the club expects Slobodan Starčević’s team to maintain their leading position in the second half of the season.
“No one gave us anything as a gift. To reach the position we are in now, we had to walk a thorny path. It wasn’t easy, especially since we didn’t have a successful start. We began with two losses, but appointing Starčević as head coach turned everything around. Step by step, we climbed to the top of the table and made significant progress toward achieving our goal. We have no intention of backing down. Our goal is to win the title and return to the Premier League of BiH. Speculations that someone must be ahead of us don’t concern us, and we’ll prove that in the remainder of the season,” emphasized Radeljić, who was appointed club director in the summer of 2021.
Although the players are officially on a break, most are following individual programs to stay in top form.
“It is already known that preparations for the second half of the season will begin on January 20. Most of the preparations will take place on our auxiliary field, and we plan to play several friendly matches, mainly with teams from the region. We’ll also decide whether to travel to Croatia for a few days to participate in a tournament. In any case, we have enough time until March 1, when the second half of the season is set to begin,” Radeljić continued.
It remains uncertain whether Laktaši’s top scorer, Milan Šikanjić, will change clubs.
“He is practically on his way out, and it’s just a matter of seeing who is willing to pay the transfer fee. There are a few options, including Russia, Qatar, and Slovenia. We expect this to be resolved soon to everyone’s satisfaction. Šikanjić deserves a real opportunity, and he will undoubtedly go down in the club’s history, having scored 50 goals in 50 matches. In the coming days, we’ll also start looking for reinforcements for the rest of the season, and we’ll release a list of players who won’t be part of our plans for spring. Our goal is to bring in several players under the age of 21 with national team potential because we currently lack such players,” added Radeljić.
Floodlights and stands
Director Igor Radeljić emphasized that the club currently lacks floodlights and seats on the east stand to meet the requirements for competing in the Premier League.
“We have an auxiliary field with artificial grass that will allow us to train properly during the winter months. The locker rooms and other facilities are in excellent condition, the west stand is covered, and the rest of the infrastructure is also in great shape. This spring, we’ll focus on installing floodlights and improving the east stand,” Radeljić concluded.
Source: Glas Srpske
