Martin Skrtel signed for Spartak Trnava in his native Slovakia in August 2021following his decision to return to play club football in his home country. The experienced centre back returned to Slovakia after almost two decades playing club football in other countries. Martin Skrtel returned to the Slovakian league 17 years after his exit.
Martin Skrtel is a forgotten man in Merseyside these days, but the domineering defender spent almost nine years at the club before he made the switch to Turkish side Fenerbache in 2016. While he had a cult following at the club, his exit would always be remembered for the kind of mess that had prior to the switch.
Skrtel was one of the first players to leave Liverpool at the start of Jurgen Klopp’s era at Liverpool. The Slovakian played just 18 times for Klopp before he was sold following some nasty events. Skrtel was a key member of the team, playing regularly in the first half of the premier league season for Klopp before picking up a hamstring injury in December.
Burnley striker Chris Wood has revealed that former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is the toughest opponent he has faced in his career. New Zealand international Wood stated that Martin Skrtelis his most difficult opponent in a chat with the Premier League YouTube channel.
Wood has faced a lot of quality defenders during his time in the Premier League, most of which he has spent at Burnley. The New Zealander has faced the likes of Portuguese star Ruben Dias, Dutchman Virgil Van Dijk and Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany but he's certain that Martin Skrtel has given him the most tough time. According to him, retired Slovakian international Skrtelwas a nightmare to play against.
Premier League heavyweights Liverpool made a big transfer coup when they signing Slovakian national team star Martin Skrtel from Zenit Saint Petersburg at the start of 2008. Liverpool signed Skrtel from Zenit in a £6.5m deal in January 2008 and he went on to establish himself at the club, forming a potent centre back partnership with Danish player Daniel Agger.
Martin Skrtel played 319 times for Liverpool, netting 18 goals in the process before he signed for Turkish Super League giants Fenerbahce in the summer of 2016.Apart from Fenerbahce, Martin Skrtel also spent some of his post-Liverpool playing career at Istanbul Basaksehir in the Turkish top flight and Spartak Trvana in his native Slovakia as he returned to where it all began for him. Skrtel started his professional career at AS Trencin before moving to Russian club football giants Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez has told UEFA's official website that he enjoyed his time in the Liverpool dressing room with Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel. Suarez talked about Martin Skrtel as a major dressing room influence ahead of the Champions League clash at former club Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Retired Slovakian senior national team defender Martin Skrtel was not fortunate to win a lot of major trophy during his time on Merseyside with Liverpool. He bagged just one trophy during his eight-year stay at Liverpool and that was the League Cup title at the end of the 2011/12 season.
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The fact that Liverpool refused to sign more than one player this summer has remained a shock to many. The Reds signed only one player this summer and decided to not bring in another new face after adding Ibrahima Konate to their squad. They completed and announced that they had reached an agreement with German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig for the transfer of the France international defender before the end of last season and many people thought that they signed the player so early so that they would focus on other targets as the summer transfer window crept in. However, they did not sign another player till the window closed two days ago and many people still talk about it.
Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel spent almost a decade as a Liverpool player before signing for Turkish Super League giants Fenerbahce on July 14, 2016. Skrtel spent eight-and-a-half years at Liverpool before joining Fenerbahce. Skrtel signed for Fenerbahce from the Reds in a £5m deal.
Martin Skrtel found the back of the net twice in 31 games in the league and he was seriously linked with a return to the Premier League. The Slovak was touted as a possible addition for clubs such as Swansea City and Stoke City. Newcastle United were newly promoted in the Premier League at the time under manager Rafael Benitez and they were linked with a move for Skrtel. Skrtel played under Spanish tactician Benitez at Liverpool. Benitez was the mastermind behind his transfer from Russia Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg in January 2008.
Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has backed his former club to have a better start to the coming campaign than they did in the previous one. The Reds started their 2020-21 season against newly-promoted side Leeds United and were only able to snatch a close 4-3 win from Marcelo Bielsa's men in what was an exciting game of football to watch. After that match, Liverpool had a strange continuation to their season and became one of the worst clubs in the league, to the shock of many.
Slovakia right-back Peter Pekarik is known as Mr. Reliable for his consistently good performances on the right side of defence and he would be hoping to continue in the same manner for his country at the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament. Euro 2020 is set to be the last major tournament for Pekarik who's set to call it quit with national team duty according to reports in the media.
Pekarik and Slovakia have been drawn in Group E of the Euro 2020 tournament alongside Spain, Poland and Sweden. Slovakia start their Euro 2020 campaign against Poland on Monday evening before taking on Sweden next week Friday. Their last group game is against three-time winners Spain on Wednesday, June 23.
