Matej Poplatnik leaves Kerala Blasters to join Scottish club Livingston

Slovenian striker Matej Poplatnik has left Indian Super League (ISL) club Kerala Blasters to join Scottish top division club Livingston FC. 

Poplatnik, who had a year left on his contract with Blasters, spent the last season on loan at Hungarian club Kaposvari Rakoczi. He managed just one start in a total of six appearances during his loan spell. Although he initially looked set to return to the club, Poplatnik has chosen to move on, with Blasters deciding that they want to head in a different direction under newly-appointed head coach Kibu Vicuna. 

Livingston finished fifth in the Scottish Premiership last season, a spot below the European slots and 41 points behind champions Celtic. Poplatnik will be hoping to fuel their push to climb up the table next season. The Slovenian striker scored four goals in his 16 appearances in the ISL with Blasters. 

ISL Media

The Indian Super League (ISL) club, as reported earlier, are undergoing a structural revamp. With the appointment of sporting director, Lithuanian Karolis Skinkys, there has been an increased focus on signing young talents and retaining existing players based on their financial capability. They recently wrapped up the signing of youngster Givson Singh from Indian Arrows. 

Blasters have failed to get past the league stage in the last three seasons and will be looking to get back on track once the 2020-21 season starts rolling.

They finished seventh in the league last season with 19 points from 18 matches. Nishu Kumar, Givson Singh and Albino Gomes etc are a few of the club's recent signings and the supporters will be expecting the management to further strengthen the squad in the coming weeks.