After much speculation, the new team for Stefan Ristovski will be Serie B side Bari who receives the player on loan from Parma.

There was a lot of interest in Stefan Ristovski this summer after his good form with Frosinone last year and the fact that he is now a member of the Macedonian national team.  He was linked with several clubs but Parma, Ristovski’s parent club, has decided that the best move to advance Stefan’s career was to loan him to Bari.  It’s a step up in competition for Ristovski as he will now participate in Serie B as opposed to the Italian third division as was the case with Frosinone.

Last summer, Ristovski was first loaned to another Serie B side in Crotone but he did not receive many opportunities so Parma and Crotone agreed to cancel the loan in the winter transfer window before Stefan was then subsequently loaned to Frosinone to conclude the 2011/12 season.  While there, Ristovski grew in confidence and quickly became a fan favorite amongst the fans.  Macedonian national team manager John Toshack rewarded Ristovski by including him in the squad for the late May friendlies against Portugal and Angola.  Stefan went on to play in the Portugal match, which finished 0:0, and did a commendable job in marking Cristiano Ronaldo throughout the game.

As part of the loan agreement between Parma and Bari, the latter will also have the option to purchase Ristovski outright.  Bari is one of the oldest clubs in Italy that has gone back and worth between participating in the top two Italian divisions.  In their history, Bari has played 30 seasons in Serie A but now feature in Serie B where they finished in 13th place out of 22 teams last season.