All Whites midfielder on brink of $10 Million EPL move

By Michael Burgess

New Zealand could have another player signed to an English Premier League club by the end of this week.

After the head-turning move of Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to Bournemouth earlier this month, an even bigger deal is about to be completed.

Young All Whites midfielder Marko Stamenic has apparently agreed terms on a contract with Nottingham Forest, with the deal expected to be confirmed in the coming days.

The 22-year-old has just completed an impressive season with Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, part of a team that completed a league and cup double.

Serbian and British media have reported that the deal is all but done, with Forest, who already have All Whites skipper Chris Wood in their squad, expected to fork out around Є5.5 million ($9.6 million) for his services.

That would represent the second-highest sum paid for a Kiwi footballer, only behind Wood. Wood, who scored 14 goals in the recently completed season for Nottingham Forest, was the subject of a $50m move to Newcastle United in 2022 and has had three other transfers well in excess of $10m across his remarkable career.

According to The Athletic, Stamenic is unlikely to spend next season in England and will instead be loaned to Olympiacos for that campaign. The Greek giants, who are regulars in the Uefa Champions League, are also owned by billionaire Evangelos Marinakis, who accquired Nottingham Forest in 2017.

Spending time in Greece is seen as the best place for his continued development, before he returns to the Premier League club ahead of the 2025-2026 season. Olympiacos have been Greek champions 47 times. They have also reached the round of 16 in the Champions League on seven occasions, reaching the quarter-finals in 1999 and won a major European trophy last season, taking out the Uefa Europa Conference League with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina.

Leading into the current transfer window, which opened on Saturday, Stamenic’s future has been a hot topic. He had been linked with several European clubs and was close to signing with Coventry City in the English Championship.

“We agreed everything but we did not sign a contract with Coventry because the player did not accept going to the Championship,” Red Star general manager Zvezdan Terzic told Serbian newspaper Sport Klub. “His express desire was the Premier League of England and the club contacted him.”

The move continues a heady rise for the Wellington product, who came through the Ole Academy and Western Suburbs before leaving for Europe in 2020. Stamenic has long been seen as one to watch – ever since his impressive performances at the 2019 Under-17 World Cup, where he particularly stood out in a game against Brazil. That game sparked interest from European agents and started his trajectory. Crucially, Stamenic has performed at every step of the ladder, converting potential into reality.

He accumulated almost 50 matches in Denmark, including three Champions League appearances, two of which were 90-minute efforts against Manchester City. The move to Red Star last June was another test but Stamenic quickly adjusted.

He had 27 league games – 20 starts – as well as five appearances in the Serbian Cup. Perhaps most importantly, Stamenic also got four Champions League starts, with a historic goal against RB Leipzig, the first by a New Zealander in Europe’s top competition since the legendary Wynton Rufer in the early 1990s.

As a young player, Stamenic has obvious appeal. He is physically strong, calm on the ball and technically astute. Stamenic is also versatile – able to be used in a holding role or further forward in central midfield – and rarely seems overawed.

He was given his All Whites debut by former coach Danny Hay in September 2021, completing the full match in a win over Curacao. He has since become one of the first picked, accumulating 21 appearances for the national team.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission