Excitement machine Nikola Mileusnic is back in Australia primed for Brisbane Roar's A-League Men's season after a complicated overseas stint in Denmark.
The talented winger was a late bloomer as a professional footballer, not making his debut with Adelaide United until the age of 23, but quickly establishing himself as a player to watch in the Australian domestic league.
Mileusnic earned a dream overseas move to Danish Superliga side Randers in 2020, but a bout of COVID-19, a series of injuries and the weight of the pandemic on his family made the journey tough, but one the 28-year-old says was still a great experience.
"When we first started the move [to Randers] I was so excited because as a kid all you want to do is go to Europe," Mileusnic told Sporting News .
"Unfortunately for us it was at the wrong time and I was bit underdone heading over there, having just had an operation and being in the COVID-19 hub with Adelaide.
"Once we got there, [Randers] was fantastic. I can't fault the club because the staff and the players were great.
"The effects of COVID-19 was like a general cold and you lose your sense of smell and taste, and I felt a bit lethargic. Over in Europe they deal with it a bit differently.
"Once I got over that, I started playing. We ended up winning the Danish Cup. It was a great experience and definitely no regrets going over there."
But after struggling to get a run of games in Denmark as the setbacks mounted, Mileusnic decided to return to Australia with Brisbane Roar - having spent significant time in Queensland in his youth and with family in the region.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on his loved ones made Mileusnic realise the best option for his career was to continue it in the A-League Men's competition.
"I decided that at 28 years old, I just wanted to play and start more frequently," Mileusnic said.
"With the COVID-19 pandemic, I also wanted to come home because I was far from my parents and family.
"It was hard for my fiancee, especially with COVID - it was four months locked down. It all built up and it was a bit challenging, but all in all, it was a fantastic experience in Europe."
Mileusnic has joined a Brisbane Roar squad under coach Warren Moon that has put an emphasis on bringing through young Australian talent, with the winger mentioning his excitement about young stars Luke Ivanovic, Cyrus Dehmie and Kai Trewin in particularly.
The Roar will face champions Melbourne City on the road at AAMI Park in A-League Men's opening match of the season on Friday November 19, with Mileusnic revealing Brisbane have been building nicely for the season in training and the team are ready to challenge the competition's best.
"When we first started training, we had a sort of way we wanted to play and every week we'd add things and it's really working for us," Mileusnic said.
"To finally put that into a competition game in the season is very exciting for us.
"Melbourne City are the champions of last season so we're definitely looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully we can we can give them a good test and take three points home to start the season."
Brisbane have signed Argentine striker Juan Lescano to lead their line for the upcoming season, with the 29-year-old having spent much of his career in Russia after going through the youth systems at Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Mileusnic believes the 188cm attacker has the all-round ability to not only excite Brisbane Roar fans, but also the A-League Men's competition in general.
"Juan is a very clean and complete striker," he said. "He's had an injury during pre-season but he's almost back.
"He's a very strong Argentinian, he's very silky, he can build up play, he can hold the ball up and run in behind.
"He can do most things so I think he's going to be really exciting for the Roar fans and for the league as well. So once he gets firing, it'll be good for us as well."
