Union Berlin striker Marin Ljubicic (23) set to join Fortuna Düsseldorf on loan | OneFootball

Patrick Berger reports that 1. FC Union Berlin striker Marin Ljubicic is on the verge of a 2. Bundesliga loan out to Fortuna Düsseldorf. The 23-year-old had been linked with a loan out to Schalke 04 earlier in the transfer window. Schalke’s sensational signing of Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko led to Union seeking a new taker for the Croatian. 

Ljubicic’s Düsseldorf medical is scheduled for Friday. Berger notes that Ljubicic will join the Flingeraner on a six-month arrangement. A purchase option will not be part of the deal. Union head coach Steffen Baumgart recently found use for the totally unused forward before a thigh injury sidelined him. 

Ljubicic has scored in both his Union appearances this year

Ljubicic – after logging zero minutes throughout the entire 2025 portion of the current Bundesliga campaign – suddenly became a famous part of FCU head coach Steffen Baumgart’s cadre of “super subs” when he managed to score twice off the bench in two consecutive relief appearances this month.

After noticing a late equalizer against FC Augsburg on matchday 17, however, he didn’t appear again in Union’s next league game against Stuttgart. The thigh injury left Ljubicic unavailable for Union’s most recent league fixture against Borussia Dortmund.

GGFN | Peter Weis