Source: FK Jablonec
Martin Doležal’s eight-year engagement in Jablonec is definitely over. The 31-year-old striker, who is a member of the wider Czech national team, is moving to Ekstraklasa, Poland, where he will defend the colors of Zaglebie Lubin. As a replacement, the 14th Fortuna League team has currently announced the arrival of Jan Silný from Líšeň.
In recent days, information has begun to leak that he is about to do so. Nevertheless, the official news about the departure of Martin Doležal from Jablonec is certainly not easy for fans of the North Bohemian team. After all, the native of Valašské Meziříčí near Nisa fought proudly for 8 long years.
Now, however, he has decided to try his luck abroad, embarking on an adventurous drive to Poland. However, they do not get rid of the descent worries, the team from the southwest of the country is in the same place in Ekstraklas as Doležal’s current breadwinner Jablonec, ie the fourteenth.
The difference is still obvious, the attacker, who has six starts for the national team, will have two more teams under him. His new team’s lead to relegation is now six points.
The fact that two of his compatriots also work in the Zaglebie jersey – midfielder Daniel Erik, better known to the spectators of the highest Slovak league, and forward Tomáš Zajíc can significantly facilitate his entry into the new engagement. However, both came only before this season. In addition, Slovak Martin Ševela occupies the position of assistant coach.
“We were looking for a goal striker, Martin Doležal was our transfer priority. Statistics, experience and his career so far show that he can help us significantly in the offensive phase, “ said the sports director of the Polish team Piotr Burlikowski on the club’s website.
However, the more valuable it is for the team from the southwest of Poland to gain a quality striker (his best scorer this year scored only 4 goals), the greater the loss for Jablonec, which already has huge problems in the current season. While he celebrated third place last year, he is currently third from the end.
In addition, he has already sold the talented Tomáš Čvančar to Sparta in this transfer window, with five precise hits by his best shooter. The owner of the club, Miroslav Pelta, justifies this by the fact that Doležal did a lot of work in Jablonec in eight years.
“We have now acquired the Strong from Líšeň and the next arrival in the attack is solved by hosting from the big three,” Pelta told the Jablonec website about who Petr Rada will now be able to put on top of his eleven. Strong became famous at the beginning of the season in the battle of the Brno derby, for Líšeň he scored 8 goals this season in 14 matches.
However, in order to replace Doležal, he will have to brag a lot. The outgoing giant entered 274 matches in the Jablonec jersey, scored 85 goals and added 25 assists. He played the European League and the new Conference League with him, only in two seasons did the North Bohemians not at least qualify for any of the continental cup competitions.
During his long engagement, he also managed to marry and produce a child. “We came here as singles, then my wife and I got married and a son was born here. I also remember the match after the birth, my wife gave birth and I went to the match in the afternoon and we won. It was an unforgettable day for me. That will stick in my memory, ” summarized on the website of Jablonec Doležal.
According to his words, he certainly did not expect to be able to stay at the Shooting Range for so long, but he would not change in any way. “I met a lot of guys here who went through the cabin, they were all fantastic. There was never a problem in the cabin either. ”
“We had a great group that I did not experience anywhere. I’ll probably remember that the most. And then, of course, the European Cups and all the matches with Jablonec, “ he said goodbye.
Source: FK Jablonec, CTK
