Yahoo News Sead Haksabanovic speaks out on Stoke City 'pain' as he makes second best admission
Sead Haksabanovic has opened up on his time on loan at Stoke City last season after quitting parent club Celtic to join Malmo in Sweden.
The forward officially signed on at the Swedish champions yesterday after his move was announced last week, and he was quick to pinpoint a problem he had at Stoke - and the “fun” he also had at the bet365 Stadium.
Discussing his loan, Haksabanovic told Hallandsposten : “I started well, scored some goals and was chosen as player of the month. But then, after barely playing anything at Celtic at the end, I went to play a lot and then I got an overload, a groin injury.
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“I never really recovered from it because after 45 minutes I was in pain. And when I was back – well, then the coach had been fired and the new one explained that he had other plans.
“Otherwise, Stoke is actually, apart from HBK, the club I’ve had the most fun in. It was a good group.”
The 25-year-old joined Celtic from Russian side Rubin Kazan on a five-year deal in August 2022. However, after making 40 appearances under Ange Postecoglou in his first season at the club, he fell out of favour following the arrival of Brendan Rodgers as manager last summer and spent last term on loan at Stoke.
It was a stop-start season at the bet365 Stadium, Haksabanovic making just 11 starts and eight cameo appearances due to a mixture of injuries, fitness and form.
He started brightly, claiming an assist in a 2-2 draw with Huddersfield and then scoring in a 3-2 win over Bristol City. However, he soon found himself out of the team and playing a substitute role at best, a situation now revealed as being exacerbated by an injury.
It was announced last Wednesday that Malmo had bought the attacker for an undisclosed fee. He has also had spells with Halmstads, West Ham, Malaga, Norrkoping and Djurgården during his career.
