LASK target Red Bull Salzburg’s Zickler
LASK Linz have set their sights on Red Bull Salzburg star Alexander Zickler.”We want to convince him that football would be fun again for him if he joins us,” LASK coach Helmut Kraft said today (Mon).Zickler is expected to leave the champions at the end of the season. The 36-year-olds contract with the “Bulls” expires this summer, and club bosses are reportedly not planning to extend it.Zickler had over the past few month failed to make the leaders starting line-up in which Austrian national team captain Marc Janko has found himself as the only nominated striker most of the time.Former LASK ace Roman Wallner often came on as second striker, while Zicklers bid has been hampered by several injuries.The former German national team player joined Red Bull from Bayern Munich in 2005.LASK president Peter-Michael Reichel has confirmed reports claiming his club was considering not signing Zickler: “We are very interested in a transfer.”Zickler was recently linked to a move to Red Bulls New York, the energy drink companys US Major League Soccer (MLS) club.Red Bull Salzburg are expected to win their third league title this season. The team coached by former Schalke 04 coach Huub Stevens is six points clear of Rapid Vienna with three rounds to go.If the leaders beat Kapfenberg tomorrow and Rapid fail to win against archrivals Austria Vienna the next day, the “Bulls” will have won the league championship.LASK Linz, meanwhile, are looking back on a rather disappointing season. The tradition-rich club is currently in seventh place in the ten-team Bundesliga.Sturm Graz striker Daniel Beichler who rejected an offer by Red Bull last winter has meanwhile been linked to German Bundesliga clubs. His teammate Jakob Jantscher is also expected to leave Sturm this summer for Germany.The Bundesliga table after 33 rounds:Red Bull Salzburg, 73 pointsRapid Vienna, 67Austria Vienna, 66Sturm Graz, 55Magna Wiener Neustadt, 43Mattersburg, 38LASK Linz, 36SV Ried, 35Kapfenberg, 27Austria Kärnten, 13