Subotic: “Here there are no prima donnas”

Neven Subotic has praised the down-to-earth attitude of his new employer Union Berlin. “There are no prima donnas here,” the former BVB central defender told Bild-Zeitung.

“What I’ve been hoping for has been confirmed so far. The players work together and for each other. It hasn’t always been that way in my career. At Union, that’s something very special,” explained Subotic. The 30-year-old central defender moved from AS Saint-Etienne to Union Berlin at the beginning of July without a replacement.

At his new employer, Subotic is looking forward to the challenge of playing against the relegation, as well as the stadium at the Alte Försterei. “I know full stadiums with golf gossip atmosphere. With Union, you can do something with 20,000 crazy people. The number is not authoritative. What matters is how passionate the fans are.”

Passion played an important role in Subotics’ decision for Union. For the Serb, it’s not about financial things. “For some, football is a money-printing machine – it’s as practical as playing FIFA on the console, only in real life. For others, especially the fans, football is passion and life’s work,” he said.

Unfortunately, Subotic says, “it won’t be easier for traditional clubs if other clubs get coal overnight”. But you can’t endow fan culture. “The balance between real football and money history has not yet been found,” said Subotic.