-Credit: (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Roko Simic is out for the rest of 2024 and it could extend to beyond January, with KV Kortrijk manager Freyr Alexandersson confirming the club are speaking with Cardiff City about a possible loan recall.
Simic was signed in the last throes of the transfer window, signing for the Bluebirds from RB Salzburg before being loaned out to Vincent Tan’s KV Kortrijk immediately after.
The Croatia youth international was earmarked for a positive season-long loan, like the one Isaak Davies enjoyed there last season, before coming back and staking his claim for the starting striker berth at Cardiff in the 2025/26 campaign.
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But the 21-year-old’s loan stint has been a nightmare so far. He has started just once and has played four games in total, scoring no goals so far. The forward then sustained an injury, the exact details of which have not yet been disclosed, which has sidelined him for the last four games and that tally is set to rise over the coming weeks and potentially months.
Alexandersson confirmed Simic is out for Saturday’s game against Dender and will be until the new year. He also admitted that the possibility of sending him back to south Wales is being discussed. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
“They are speaking about it,” he said when asked about whether would be recalled in January. “I don’t know how it will go. Depending on how long this… it’s a very strange injury to be honest. It’s very complex and they are working on it constantly.
“He will definitely be out until January, that’s for sure. It could even be longer. We need to have constant communication.”
It’s a shame for all concerned. Cardiff wanted their new striker to have a season of regular football under his belt, while Kortrijk thought they were getting a forward who could aid their plight after battling relegation last term.
And Alexandersson understands Kortrijk fans’ frustrations, too.
Speaking about the expectation and fervour surrounding Simic’s signing, Alexandersson said: “Yeah, and then you get nothing. It’s not his fault. It’s not worked out and we would have loved to have had it another way.”
All roads look to be leading towards a January recall for Simic and it is paramount they find the right loan club for him in the new year. He needs games and goals if he is to come back raring to go next summer. And given the seismic window which already awaits Cardiff, the emergence of this Simic problem is probably one they don’t need.
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Kortrijk boss Alexandersson previously admitted that he was perhaps to blame a little for the striker’s lack of form following his move to Belgium.
“It’s partly my fault. I wanted to bring Roko too fast, when he was not ready for it,” he said last month.
“He still has to adapt a lot to this league and style of playing. In Austria, he was used to play for a dominating team, here he has to fight hard. He’s been struggling to adapt and find form, while I was wrong by putting him in the squad too fast.”