There are no big surprises in the ÖFB squad of the Ralf Rangnick era: Arnel Jakubović is in the Austrian national team squad for the Nations League games in Slovenia and Norway.

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With Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic and Maximilian Entrup, the three strikers ahead of Vienna in the pecking order are out.

“We’re no longer well-staffed on the front end,” Rangnick says. The team captain highlights the 26-year-old’s current goalscoring rate. Five goals in five championship matches for his Slovenian boss NK Maribor, as well as two goals in European Cup qualification.

“That makes sense”

“We researched him, had a long phone call with his current head coach and watched several videos,” Rangnick reports.

His insight: “We got the impression that it made sense to see the guy.”

His strengths: “A left-footer who knows where the target is, he has very good shooting technique. And, at 26, he’s in his prime, which makes sense.”

Postscript with a wink: “Also, it’s not bad that Marko (hint: Arnautovic) has another ‘IC’ with him. Grillitch isn’t real.”

After years of wandering, he settled in Slovenia

Jakubović grew up in Vienna Austria’s youth team and moved to Middlesbrough in England at a young age, before trying to establish a foothold in Italy at Empoli and Juventus. This was followed by less than half a year at SK Sturm in the spring of 2019.

The striker has been playing in Slovenia since 2019, first with Domsale and now Maribor. Jakubović has scored 56 goals in 156 matches in the Brava Liga.

He now has the opportunity to wear the ÖFB jersey again for the first time in five years. In March 2019 he last played under Werner Grigoritch in the U21s.