Southampton Midfielder Confirms £3.5m Move to Turkey

Trabzonspor's supporters hold red flares and flags during the UEFA Europa League Group D football match between FC Basel 1893 and Trabzonspor AS at the St. Jakob-Park Stadium in Basel on December 12, 2019. (Photo by STEFAN WERMUTH / AFP) (Photo by STEFAN WERMUTH/AFP via Getty Images)

Mislav Orsic has joined Trabzonspor in a £3.5 million deal, the Turkish club announced on Friday.

Trabzonspor released a statement on the Turkish stock exchange confirming talks with Orsic who arrived in Istanbul yesterday.

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Orsic will be officially unveiled as a Trabzonspor player over the next 48 hours.

The Croatia international had a brief and unsuccessful spell at Southampton, making just six appearances for the Premier League club after joining from Dinamo Zagreb in January.

Orsic was prolific at Dinamo, scoring 20 goals in each of the previous three seasons. He also scored a hat-trick against Tottenham in the Europa League in 2021.

The 30-year-old told Sport that he was “extremely happy” to be joining Trabzonspor and that he hoped to have a good season.

“I’m extremely happy to be here,” Orsic told Sport after touching down in Turkey.

“I hope we will have a good season. I have already worked with coach Nenad Bjelica (at Dinamo). And he is responsible for my coming here.

“I didn’t think much about the city I’m coming to. I came to play football.”

He said that he had already worked with coach Nenad Bjelica at Dinamo and that Bjelica was “responsible” for his move to Turkey.

Orsic could still be joined at Trabzonspor by another Croatian international, Southampton teammate Duje Caleta-Car.