Former team-mate sure: Vuskovic will be a big help for HSV | OneFootball

Mario Vuskovic’s return to team training drew numerous companions to the Volkspark on Tuesday. One of them was Jonas Meffert.

Together with his current Holstein Kiel coach Tim Walter, former captain Sebastian Schonlau, and former HSV assistant coach Filip Tapalovic, Meffert watched the much-noticed training comeback of the 24-year-old. Around 7,500 spectators were there as Vuskovic took to the pitch with the team again for the first time after 1,404 days.

The afternoon was likely a very special moment for Meffert as well. After all, the midfielder and the center-back have long been connected by more than just their shared time at HSV. The two also stayed in regular contact during the four-year doping ban. “We kept checking in with each other,” Meffert told the Hamburger Abendblatt. Whenever Vuskovic was in the Hanseatic city, they often met up together with Robert Glatzel and Miro Muheim.

Will Vuskovic make his HSV comeback in the North derby?

The current Kiel player also witnessed many defining moments in Vuskovic’s ordeal — from the search of his locker to the CAS ruling and the promotion celebration they shared in May 2025. Meffert is accordingly impressed by the way his friend handled the difficult situation. “It feels like these events have made him even more professional,” he said. There is probably no one “who has prepared for his comeback as meticulously as he has.”

Photo: IMAGO

Meffert therefore believes his former teammate is capable of a lot. “No one will be out for four years and then come back stronger than Mario,” he said. At the same time, he is convinced: “No one could handle it better than he does.” That is why the 32-year-old firmly believes that Vuskovic “will become an important help for HSV,” and “sooner than everyone thinks.”

However, the Croatian can only live up to this advance praise from November 15 onward. That is when his four-year doping ban will also end for competitive matches. His first appearance could come, of all games, in the North derby against Werder Bremen (November 22, 5:30 p.m.).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.