Attacking midfielder Hakan Redzep has received an invitation to join the U21 squad for the upcoming qualifier against Northern Ireland.

Another foreign-born player with ties to Macedonia has been recruited to don the Macedonian colors. The latest to make the jump is Hakan Redzep, a member of Danish second division side Vejle. There, he is teammates with Antonio Stankov, a former youth international himself.

The move was confirmed by the agency that represents Redzep. They wrote that Hakan has been called up by Macedonia U21 for the qualifier against Northern Ireland on October 13. This transaction should be made official on FFM’s website over the next couple of days.

Hakan Redzep plays in attacking midfield, so we’ll see what corresponding move awaits, if any. Usually a player is added only when someone else withdraws. It could mean that a guy like David Babunski might drop out again due to club obligations. Or it could be Daniel Avramovski if he is still injured. Or it could be nobody with manager Blagoja Milevski just opting to add another reinforcement.

Returning to Redzep, he is 21 years old (born on March 2, 1994 in Denmark). He has a Macedonian connection through his parents. Redzep formerly played for the youth national teams of Denmark (up to U19 category).

Hakan has played in all 10 league games for Vejle this season for a total of 507 minutes. That comes out at an average of just over 50 minutes per match. He has started some and come off the bench in others. Redzep has scored one goal in those appearances, which came on a beauty from a long-range effort in the last fixture (see video below).

In conclusion, it’s good that some new players are being tested to see if they can raise the quality of the national team. We will reserve judgment for Redzep until we see him play.

Update: As the user “Pingu” commented below, Besmir Bojku and Stefan Mishev were withdrawn due to injuries.