We continue our countdown to First Kick today with a look at another great reason to come to Rio Tinto Stadium in 2017. At No. 3 is one of the club’s latest additions, Slovakian midfielder Albert Rusnák.
It’s not often that a club can add a player on the cusp of his national team in a dynamic attacking position and have it fly under the radar. But in many ways that’s what RSL has done with the addition of Rusnák. The product of Manchester City’s academy is just 22 years old but already has 78 appearances in the highly-competitive Dutch league and led FC Groningen to the KNVB Cup (equivalent to the U.S. Open Cup) in his first season, scoring twice in the final.
He is smooth with the ball. He is dynamic in his vision. And he is deceptively fast.
Calm and cool, he is quick in his decisions and often explosive in what he does with the ball or in his runs off the ball.
Players often take time to adjust to new leagues and new countries, but he seems to have the personality and skillset to bridge that gap quickly.
And he’s also well aware of the man he’s replacing. And he has been clear from the day he signed. He isn’t out to make people forget about Javier Morales. He’s out to make people remember Albert Rusnák.
See what all the fuss is about at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday and throughout the season.
