Marinko Jurendic officially began his role as FC Augsburg’s sporting director on Tuesday. The 45-year-old gave his first impressions as he spoke to the media and fans at a press conference.

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“I’m really pleased to be here and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I felt that I was the right fit straight away,” Jurendic told the visiting media at the WWK ARENA. The Switzerland native, who has Croatian roots, comes to FCA after a five-year spell at FC Zurich that was crowned by a Swiss title in 2022. Jurendic also holds coaching badges and spent 15 years with the Switzerland Football Association working as head coach of the youth national teams.

The new sporting director was in attendance for the friendly victories over Jahn Regensburg (3-2) and Ajax (3-1) and was impressed with his new side’s performances. The 45-year-old said he wants to play his part in ensuring “that the club makes the next step,” and also highlights the importance of young talent. “It’s a big step up to the first team – we therefore want to develop strategies and solutions and bring a good talent management out onto the pitch.”

Jurendic will be supported by Heinz Moser, whom he has worked alongside for a number of years. Moser will take up the role of head of youth development on 1st September and will oversee the link between the Paul Renz Academy and the first team. “We need to maintain a common philosophy throughout the whole project and follow it from top to bottom,” said Jurendic, who sees “a lot of potential” in FCA.

Managing director for sport Stefan Reuter is looking forward to working with Jurendic. “We wanted to expand our team in the management area and in Marinko, we have exactly the right person to give his insight on the bench and be close to the team.” Jurendic has the opportunity to get to know the players better with the team’s upcoming trip to Italy, in order to be “optimally prepared in ten days’ time” – when the new sporting director will see FCA in competitive action for the first time since joining the club when they take on third-division side SpVgg Unterhaching in the DFB-Pokal first round.