- 22 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE: Lazar Samardzic interview - 'I love how Guardiola plays'
Jacque Talbot
- Updated: 11 Mar 2024 11:13 GMT
- 5 min read
Exclusive
Lazar Samardzic has enjoyed a fruitful season with Udinese, which has, naturally, led to swarms of speculation around his future.
The attacker was involved in a complicated transfer saga last summer involving Inter and Juventus, but he has stressed that his eyes are firmly on the job at hand with his current club.
Samardzic spoke exclusively to FootballTransfers about his current season and what it means for the future: "Yes, I'm really happy here [at Udinese]. It could be better because of where we are in the table. But for me, the club is good - and that's my focus," he said.
READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2023/24: Who is Europe’s leading striker?
"There was a lot of interest in me last summer. But right now, I am very much concentrating on this season. I just hope we can make good the rest of our campaign - as for the future, we'll see."
We asked Samardzic about the Premier League - given it's considered the best league in the world right now - and who in particular he enjoys watching there.
"I really like [Pep] Guardiola. I used to follow Barcelona a lot when I was younger and he was in Spain. Like when Messi was there and watching how they played, that was what I admired. He's a wonderful coach.
READ MORE: Premier League top scorers 2023/24
"I really admire how Kevin De Bruyne plays for Man City. But even further back than that, David Silva has always been someone that I look up to."
But he stressed that the Italian league is no walk in the park. "Serie A is a technical league, which I enjoy. It's developed from before. A lot of 1vs1s and a lot of box-to-box, like in England or Germany.
"For me, my favourite position is the No.10 role, so I can get forward more. At the moment, I am more of a No.8. I know not a lot of clubs play No.10s anymore as much as they used to."
Samardzic's Serbia will face England on June 16 as their opening Euro 2024 match. They were pitted in the Three Lions' group along with Denmark and Slovenia. But despite this, Samardzic believes his side are more than capable of getting to the knockout stages.
"I believe Serbia can progress from our group in the Euros. We have a good squad and a good coach and are more than capable. We have England in the first match, so we will see."
