Shakhtar let Dević make Metalist return
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Article summary
Marko Dević has returned to FC Metalist Kharkiv on a four-year contract, having left the club to join UEFA Champions League hopefuls FC Shakhtar Donetsk in May.
Article top media content
Article body
Summer signing Marko Dević has left FC Shakhtar Donetsk to return to FC Metalist Kharkiv.
The Ukraine forward, who has scored twice in 29 games for his country and played in all their UEFA EURO 2012 matches, has signed a four-year deal. "Marko is our player again," said Metalist coach Myron Markevich. "We registered him for the domestic league today and put pen to paper on a four-year contract. I really wanted this transfer to happen."
Serbia-born Dević moved to Ukraine in 2004/05 to join FC Volyn Lutsk but his career took off when he switched to Metalist two years later. The 29-year-old notched 64 goals in 148 Premier-Liha appearances to help the Kharkiv team to six consecutive third-placed finishes. He was also the top flight's leading marksman in 2007/08 with 19 strikes.
Dević scored four times in 12 league outings for Shakhtar and featured twice in the UEFA Champions League, a competition in which his former side visit Borussia Dortmund for their round of 16 second leg on Tuesday, locked at 2-2.