Dejan Blazhevski, who the Football Federation of Macedonia awarded the best domestic player for 2013, is currently training with Xəzər of Azerbaijan.
The leading scorer at the midway point of the Macedonian league, Dejan Blazhevski, is currently in Azerbaijan where he is nearing a deal with Xəzər from Lankaran. The club is testing his qualities before deciding whether to offer him a contract. If Dejan secures a deal, he will become teammates with another Macedonian player in Nikola Gligorov who has been with Xəzər since the summer of 2013.
Horizont Turnovo, where Blazhevski has played since 2012, had been expected to cash in on its best player during the winter transfer window. Now, the Lankaran based club will have the first option to purchase Blazhevski. Dejan held his first training with Xəzər on 23 January, and he will stay there for the next couple of days before a final decision is made whether to extend him an offer.
We reached out to Blazhevski for comment by asking him the following question: Dejan, in the newspapers in Azerbaijan it says you are on trial. Is that true, or have you already signed a deal?
Dejan responded, “No, tomorrow I need to undergo a medical test and after that, if everything goes well, I should sign.”
Blazhevski has experienced a lot of success over the past year, culminating in him being named the best domestic player for 2013 by FFM. Winning that award has usually led to a transfer out of Macedonia for the recipient. As a reminder, the last five winners of that award are Besart Ibraimi, Martin Bogatinov, Ferhan Hasani, Ostoja Stjapnovikj and Dejan Blazhevski.
At the time of their transfers, Ibraimi moved to Schalke 04 (he is now under contract with Sevastopol), Bogatinov joined Karpaty (he is now with Steaua), Hasani transferred to Wolfsburg (he is now with Brøndby), Stjepanovikj sealed a deal with Wisła Kraków and now Blazhevski is likely to shift to Xəzər.
Dejan also debuted for the senior national team of Macedonia towards the end of 2012. His first appearance came in a friendly against Slovenia in November of 2012, while his first goal came a month later in a friendly against Poland.
If he were to join Xəzər, the 28-year-old Blazhevski would join five other Macedonian players who play their club football in Azerbaijan. Those players are Nikola Gligorov (Xəzər), Igor Mitreski (Neftçi), Slavcho Georgievski (İnter Bakı), Edin Nuredinoski (Bakı) and Muarem Muarem (Qarabağ).