Ivan Trickovski will miss the return leg of the Champions League encounter against Skënderbeu due to an injury.

Ivan Trickovski left training early today for APOEL because he felt discomfort and medical tests later in the day showed he was suffering from tendinitis which is defined as irritation and swelling of a tendon.  This means that Trickovski will definitely miss tomorrow’s return leg against Skënderbeu in the second round of Champions league qualifying.  APOEL won the first leg 2:0 and should advance to the next round where they will face Slovak team Slovan Bratislava.  Tricko has been advised to rest for the next day or two and then they will reassess his condition.

Trickovski is largely viewed by the Macedonian public as the next big star of the national team to overtake Goran Pandev.  His form over the past year has won many praises both in Cyprus with APOEL and also with the Macedonian fans throughout the world because Trickovski has arguably been the best performer on the national team ever since he made his debut with the senior team in the summer of 2010.  Tricko was voted as the best foreign player in Cyprus last season which is a pretty good accomplishment considering the Cypriot league possesses many foreigners and the quality continues to improve every year.

Trickovski is 24 years old and was linked with Scottish giants Rangers earlier this summer.  However, the problem remains the asking price as APOEL will not sell Trickovski for a price below his market value.  APOEL is believed to be asking for a couple of million euros for Trickovski as the club even rejected an offer of 1.2 million euros this past January from Belgian club Lokeren.  Trickovski wants a step up in his career and would like to continue his career with Rangers but understands that will only happen if the two sides can agree on a transfer fee.  APOEL is not against selling Trickovski because they do have good depth at that position but they will only sell Tricko if they receive a satisfactory offer.

Ivan made 27 appearances for APOEL this past season and scored a total of 11 goals.  His form played a big factor in APOEL winning the title in Cyprus.  He joined APOEL last summer after one season on loan at fellow Cypriot club Enosis Neon Paralimni.  Trickovski was born in Skopje and was always considered a big talent as a young player.  He played for both Vardar and Rabotnicki before he moved to Crvena Zvezda in January of 2008 for 800,000 euros.  Belgian club Anderlecht was also strongly linked with him but Rabotnicki decided to accept the best offer which came from Crvena Zvezda.  However, his career stalled at Crvena Zvezda where he wasn’t given many opportunities and he was facing an uncertain future until Macedonian manager Cedomir Janevski came calling and offered Tricko a lifeline by taking him on loan at Enosis Neon Paralimni.  Keep in mind that Janevski was the manager of Enosis at that time and Trickovski’s great form during the year led to a transfer to Cypriot giants APOEL during the summer of 2010.  Soon after his transfer to APOEL, Tricko was summoned to the senior national team where he has been in great form and is now considered the next big star of Macedonian football.

Highlights of Trickovski with the national team:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4xSJexQGGXo

Video of Trickovski’s goals for APOEL: