Under contract at ASSE until June 30, Stefan Bajic confided at length to Goal France. The AS Saint-Étienne goalkeeper commented on the competition with Etienne Green, but also on his personal situation.
Stefan Bajic: “My ego took a hit”
Seen as the natural successor to Stéphane Ruffier, Stefan Bajic saw Etienne Green come past him in the hierarchy of goalkeepers established by Claude Puel at AS Saint-Étienne. And inevitably, the native of Saint-Étienne did not live well with this decision of the coach at the start.
“It was not an obvious moment. It was the first blow I experienced in my young career. I have always passed in front of the other goalkeepers and this is the first time that I have been passed in front. It was my ego that took a hit. I am a competitor and the fact of losing my place, I saw it as a failure. But I got up, I took a step back. We have a very good relationship with Étienne. There is healthy competition that has developed between us ”, explained the 19-year-old porter. Free at the end of the season, Stefan Bajic also spoke about his personal situation.
Mercato ASSE: What future for Stefan Bajic?
Pure product of the AS Saint-Étienne training center, Stefan Bajic don’t know what will happen next summer. Very attached to the Greens, the French hopeful international is abandoning his future in the hands of his management as he is not thinking of any club other than ASSE.
“This club means a lot to me. All the coaches, goalie coaches or educators gave me the ingredients to become a goalkeeper, but they also taught me the values of this city, respect, work, humility. And for that, I am grateful to them ”, he declared before launching an appeal to his leaders concerning his future.
“After that, I didn’t think about going elsewhere. Today, I am at AS Saint-Étienne. I have my personal goals, but there is also the club’s goal, which is to maintain itself. I am really focused on this. We’ll see at the end of the season how it goes, ”says Bajic. The ball is therefore in the court of Claude Puel and decision-makers from Saint-Etienne.