“It was really an extremely difficult decision for us. We know how long both boys have been here, especially Honza, who started in Baník as a teenager, won the title and is really a player who cares about Baník. Kuzma is also here more than five years, he also did a lot of good work for the club. It was very difficult for us. But age cannot be stopped, and we feel that it is necessary to start rejuvenating the squad a little,” said the head of the club’s sports department, Luděk Mikloško, on the official website.
Laštůvka won the last championship with Baník in 2004, and after a long engagement abroad, he returned at the beginning of 2017 and helped the team to the rescue. The miner offers him a job at the club. “With his career and experience and relationship with Baník, of course we would not want to lose him. It is still in the next negotiation between us and Honza, he also has some ideas of his own, but we would be very happy if he stayed here,” said Mikloško.
The soon-to-be forty-one-year-old goalkeeper is still hesitating whether to continue his career. “I took some time to think. I need to think it through myself if I will continue or go in a different direction,” said captain Baník.
Thirty-four-year-old Serb Kuzmanovič has been working in Ostrava since 2018. Now he will probably head elsewhere. “It’s all a matter of further negotiations. We respect the fact that he still has a valid contract with us, and therefore any further steps must take place in mutual agreement between the club and the player. If he were to receive an interesting offer for him, we don’t want to cause him any problems. But as I say , it’s a matter of further negotiations,” said Mikloško.
Football program PRIMÁK with Zdenek FolprechtVideo: Sport.cz