Subotic opens up on Union move

Neven Subotic has lifted the lid on his move to Union Berlin this summer, which raised quite a few eyebrows.

The Serbian started his professional career in 2006 with Mainz 05, playing initially for their second team, before moving to the first team a year later. In 2008, he followed head coach Jurgen Klopp from Mainz to Borussia Dortmund, and spent 10 years on their books during which he made a total of 262 appearances and scored 18 goals, and won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012, as well as the 2012 DFB-Pokal.

The defender went out on loan for the last six months of his employment with Dortmund, to FC Cologne, before signing an 18-month deal with Saint-Etienne which expired this summer.

Subotic told Kicker that a lot of things had to be right for him to choose a new club, and Union were one of the very few suitors where everything felt right. The 30-year-old needed to be sure of the club’s immediate future as well as the manager and his plans, not wanting to be part of a setup where the team changes every week. Money was apparently the least important factor in his decision.