Nurkovic comments on Royal AM saga, City and Raja trials
‘I really wasn’t involved much. But to be honest it was a really difficult period for me to find myself in,’ said Nurkovic.
Soccer star Samir Nurkovic at the 2023 Miss South Africa Final at SunBet Arena on August 13. Photo: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu)
Former Kaizer Chiefs and now TS Galaxy striker Samir Nurkovic is clear: he was never injured during his short yet controversial time with Royal AM.
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Nurkovic joined Royal AM as a free agent from Chiefs in July, 2022. But things didn’t go as planned.
His two-year contract was cut short just three months in. His agent, Davor Lazic, quickly took the matter to Fifa, claiming a breach of contract. This led to Royal AM owing Nurkovic over R12 million.
However, the payment is still pending, and Fifa have slapped a transfer ban on Royal AM who insist the striker carried an injury he didn’t declare when he signed.
Nurkovic spoke to Metro FM’s Sport Night Amplified on Wednesday, confirming his immediate move to TS Galaxy.
And yes, he didn’t shy away from answering questions about his controversial time at Royal AM.
“Those kinds of things are beyond my control. It’s really on my lawyer and agency side to comment,” said Nurkovic.
“I really wasn’t involved much. But to be honest it was a really difficult period for me to find myself in.
“I was 100 percent fit to play. My last injury was far back – at Chiefs. Everybody knows that, the entire continent knows that.
Nurkovic insists he was fit
“It was after the (Caf) Champions League final (that I got injured), so that’s two years back.”
After his time at Royal AM was cut short, Nurkovic trained with Cape Town City for a while, but was not signed.
He was recently out in Morocco where he trained with Raja Casablanca hoping for a contract that would see him back in the Champions League again.
But that was all not to be and now he says he is happy at Galaxy where he has since signed.
“I trained with City for about 10 days and everything was good on my side, we just couldn’t agree on personal terms.
“At Raja it was the same – the coaching staff (Josef Zinnbauer and Fadlu Davids) really wanted me there,” explained the Serb.
“They know me from South Africa and I was in Saudi Arabia for the pre-season camp for 15 days.
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“But there were discussions between the club and my agent, I guess they couldn’t agree on the terms and now I am back in SA.”
