During the 2011 January transfer window, Macedonian attacker Ivan Trickovski almost joined Belgian side Lokeren but their offer of one million euros was rejected by APOEL.

With the success of APOEL in this year’s Champions League, many newspapers from other countries have shown interest in learning more about the Cypriot club.  Knack.be of Belgium and their sport magazine had a report on APOEL with an interesting story from the Lokeren sporting director who stated that Ivan Trickovski came close to joining the Belgian club during the 2011 January transfer window.

Willy Reynders, the sporting director of Lokeren, told the following to the magazine about Trickovski, “It dates to the period when new investors came in the club.  In the 2011 January transfer window, we wanted Trickovski to join Lokeren.  We were looking for someone with versatility and scoring ability.  Trickovski can play numerous positions as he was usually deployed as a second striker for APOEL while he played on the left wing with the Macedonian national team.  I watched him in the EURO 2012 qualifier against Russia on 12 October 2010 and he performed very strongly.  Young, talented, and also had a good personality while we spoke with him which reassured us that he would be a good investment.  That’s the reason we wanted to go after him.  We offered one million euros but that was not enough for APOEL who was battling Omonia for the league title.  Eventually, they asked for 1.2 million euros and then we pulled out.  That’s the story.”

Ivan Trickovski has certainly raised his market value over the past year with his performances for both APOEL and the Macedonian national team.  With APOEL reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League, they are unlikely to sell Trickovski anytime soon as he has become a key player on the team ever since he joined APOEL in the summer of 2010 from Enosis.