Jamshedpur FC part ways with Petar Sliskovic | ISL 2023-24
Jamshedpur FC has confirmed the departure of Petar Sliskovic after both parties agreed to part ways less than a month into the 2023-24 Indian Super League season. The Croat, who had an enjoyable season with Chennaiyin FC (2022-23), put pen to paper with the one-time League Shield holders on a one-year contract this summer, but it has come to an end with zero appearances for the club.
As reported earlier by Sportskeeda, the 32-year-old will miss the entire ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) campaign due to a knee injury he suffered during the pre-season. It is perceived that the club waited for his replacement before releasing him from the JRD Tata Sports Complex. They bolstered their firepower by signing Nongdamba Naorem Singh and Thongkhoseium Haokip.
Jamshedpur FC manager Scott Cooper confirmed the long-term injury to Sliskovic and the club's search for a replacement before their narrow 1-0 loss to Kerala Blasters on October 1.
"Everybody knew about our Croatian striker that left with a long-term knee injury. But you can expect some news on, on the replacement of that coming soon. So, we haven't sat back and been, you know, non-active. We've gone out into the market and looked for a for someone else and we found somebody." said Cooper in a press conference (via fcjamshedpur.com).
Does Jamshedpur FC have enough firepower to overcome Sliskovic's injury?
Despite the injury to Petar Sliskovic, the Red Miners already have an established striker in their squad — Daniel Chima Chukwu. Ritwik Das, who scored six times in 16 appearances last season, has been sidelined with a knee injury. However, the winger is expected to return to the squad for the club's home game against Punjab FC on October 22.
The season has gotten off to a decent start for Simon Cooper and company with four points from three games. This is a marked improvement from their previous catastrophic campaign under Aidy Boothroyd, during which they languished and finished 10th in the league stage.