Slaven Belupo have made one of the coups of the January transfer window after signing striker Leon Benko. The 27 year old arrives on a free transfer from Kortrijk, having also spent time with Standard Liege and Nuremburg.Benko should take to life easily back in HNL1, having shown enough abroad in stronger leagues to be a notable force. Benko was arguably just what Belupo were missing after Franjo Tepuric and Tomislav Busic failed to impress in the first half of the season. New signing Nikola Frzuljec also has not scored a goal this season. Benko is expected to partner Aljosa Vojinovic in attack with Stjepan Poljak and Goran Mujanovic supplying the creativity.
Meantime, Hajduk Split have ended their interest in Mladen Bartulovic after signing Sikori Briceg left back Josip Barisic. Barisic may have been signed as cover for Goran Jozinovic who could be set to gain his chance. Hajduk fans however may see this as a cheap option and missed chance to reinvest in the side, with other possibilities like Renato Puncec and Marko Babic declined. Mate Bilic's high profile switch from Sporting Gijon also seems to late in the transfer window to go through.
Bilic's Croatian international colleagues Ivan Rakitic and Srdjan Lakic have however made big money deals. Rakitic, who is one of Croatia's hottest talents has joined Sevilla from Schalke for 3m Euro's whilst goalscorer Srdjan Lakic moves across from Kaiserslautern to Wolfsburg. Lakic's switch is likely to leave Kaiserslautern vulnerable in the remainder of the season.
