If everything goes according to plan on Thursday, Muarem will put pen to paper on a contract with Turkish side Eskişehirspor.

On Wednesday, Muarem played his last game for Qarabağ in the Azeri Cup final against Neftçi. That was the final match of the season for Qarabağ, and Muarem, as a free agent in the summer, had his mind made on wanting to test himself in a better league. He had a great send-off as he scored a nice goal to help Qarabağ win the cup trophy. Since they also won the league title, Qarabağ was the recipient of the double crown this season.

Video of Muarem’s goal (at 3:03) in the Azeri Cup final:

Muarem, however, didn’t have much time to celebrate the cup win as he was scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Thursday. That was confirmed by Qarabağ manager Gurban Gurbanov. In his post-game presser, when asked whether Muarem was leaving the club, Gurbanov said, “Yes, tomorrow (Thursday) he will travel to Turkey to sign a contract with Eskişehirspor. I wish him all the best. He was a valuable player and person for us. He deserves the very best. It’s not every day that a coach is blessed to work with such a professional.”

Muarem, since he was summoned to the senior national team for the Slovakia game, needs to be in Macedonia by Friday. That is the day when the national team gathers and begins its preparations for Slovakia. Every called up player, with the exception of those who have club obligations on the weekend, must be present. Therefore, Muarem will need to get his transfer finalized by the end of Thursday. That will involve a medical check and agreeing personal terms with Eskişehirspor.

As you recall, Eskişehirspor is one of the former teams of Agim Ibraimi. However, Agim had a disastrous stint there. To be frank, Turkey has not been kind to Macedonian players, also taking into consideration what happened with Goran Pandev this season at Galatasaray. Pandev and Ibraimi are highly respected and proven players elsewhere, but they struggled mightily in Turkey.

Muarem, though, does have an advantage in that he is of Turkish origin. He was born in Macedonia, but he speaks Turkish and his dream has been to play in the top division in that country. He formerly played with Orduspor, albeit in the second division, together with another Macedonian player in forward Jovan Kostovski.

Eskişehirspor was actually interested in Muarem back in the winter, but they couldn’t agree with Qarabağ on a transfer fee. Now, with Muarem being a free agent, that won’t be a problem. We’ll see if this transfer gets announced by the end of Thursday.

UPDATE: Muarem officially signed for 3 years in a contract that was announced on Friday.