Partizan Rushes Three Signings Before Tobol Deadline
Sasa Ilic says the deal for Idrisu Baba is nearly done, as Partizan's squad registration deadline for the Tobol match closes at 6pm. Cumic and Miladinovic are in the final stages too.
Before he sat down at the microphones in Humska, Sasa Ilic went looking for sporting director Radosav Petrovic. He wanted to know one thing: whether the midfielder he had been chasing since the start of preseason could make the squad list before Wednesday’s 6pm deadline for registering players for the tie with Tobol. What he heard, he passed on to reporters almost word for word.
“I spoke to Radosav Petrovic before the conference, and what I can tell you is that the deal with Baba is almost done, and the club will do everything it can to finish the paperwork so the central midfielder can be included in the squad tomorrow as well.”
That would be Idrisu Baba, a Ghanaian international who is 30 years old and joins from Almeria. He has spent seven to eight years in Spanish football and played four preseason friendlies for his club this summer, so on a team where the average player is closer to twenty than thirty, he is expected to be the one calming the midfield.
Who Can Play on Thursday?
That depends on what gets filed on paper by the afternoon. Everything else is already set:
- first leg of the third qualifying round of the Conference League, Thursday, August 6, 9pm, at the Humska stadium
- the referee is Portugal’s Antonio Nobre
- the return leg is August 13 in Kazakhstan at 5pm, with an Italian officiating crew
- the broadcast airs on TV Arena Premium 1
Tobol come from Kostanay and eliminated Lithuania’s Panevezys on penalties in the previous round. Partizan beat Luxembourg’s UNA Strassen in the second round by an aggregate score of 5-0, four goals in Humska and one in the return leg, but neither result got anyone out of their seats. In the league, the black and whites have collected four points from a possible nine, the last of them coming Sunday evening against IMT, when they played 75 minutes with a man down.
“After the loss to IMT, the mood and confidence are not where we thought they would be,” Ilic said, calling on the stands on Thursday for something the locker room currently lacks.
“The fans, the board and the players, along with the wider public, should all stand together, because that is the only way we can get past the Kazakhs.”
Asked about the frequent changes to the lineup, he answered without softening it: “At this moment, nobody at Partizan has made enough of a difference to be a starter in every match.”
Cumic and Miladinovic, Two Names in the Final Stretch
Nikola Cumic is 27 years old, plays on either wing, and has agreed a three year contract. He joins from Rubin Kazan, where he made 38 appearances and scored three goals since September 2023. Before that he was Vojvodina’s captain, and he came up through Radnicki Nis. In early 2026 he went on loan to Zaragoza, who did not extend the arrangement.
Igor Miladinovic arrives on loan from Saint Etienne, with an option to buy at the end of the season. The French club bought him from Cukaricki two years ago for three million euros, and in two seasons there he made 33 appearances with two goals and one assist. He was not even part of preseason with the club this summer, meaning he arrives in Humska without match fitness. He has already worked with Ilic at Cukaricki, so at least the coach’s demands will not be new to him.
Asked why all three names are arriving on deadline day, Ilic explained without dodging the question. “So far we have sold Vanja Dragojevic, and before that there was no way to even talk about this,” he said, adding that every move in this transfer window is closely tied to the club’s financial situation. The pressure is even greater since the board has announced it will step down if the team fails to reach the Conference League group stage.
What Awaits the Winner of the Tie
Getafe. The first leg of the playoff is August 20 in Spain, the return leg August 27 in Belgrade, and we wrote about that draw on the day it was made, alongside Red Star’s pairing against Aarhus.
“We drew the toughest possible opponent, but right now we are not in a position to think about Getafe.”
Ilic is entirely right about that, because everything Partizan is attempting this summer comes down to two appointments on the same Wednesday. The deadline is at 6pm, the match a day later at 9pm. If Baba makes the list, he will get minutes on a team that has not been waiting for him since today but since June, and that is a difference that will be visible to the naked eye in Kazakhstan on August 13.
