Matús Bero     21     Midfielder     Trabzonspor     Slovakia

Skinny

Slovakian Winger/Midfielder whose form last season alerted the attention of many European clubs and earned him three senior caps for his country.

Born in Ilava in north western Slovakia in 1995, Bero worked his way through the youth ranks at Trenčín before becoming a regular in the first team.  Making his debut at Spartak Trnava at the start of the 2013-14 season, the young midfielder featured regularly as his side chased Slovan Bratislava for the league title.  By the tail end of the season, Bero had really found his feet and was beginning to influence games with his guile, strength and technique.

By early 2015 Bero had become a key part of the Trencin midfield. Playing on both flanks, pushing forward from deeper central positions and operating as an extra striker, his progress from able teenager to frequent man of the match highlighted an impressive rise in stature. Scouts began to take note too. Anyone present at Trenčín’s 3-1 victory at champions Slovan that season would have been impressed by his match winning display, scoring twice and creating another for Gino van Kessel. Indeed that particular result proved to be something of a springboard for Trenčín who would go on to win their first Fortuna Liga title.

2016 has been...

Progressive. The 2015-16 season saw Trenčín in irrepressible form as they comfortably won back to back league titles. Throughout the season Bero, and the aforementioned van Kessel, stood out a mile as the best players in Slovakia. Scoring 32 goals between them the duo demolished opponents and this was no more apparent than an end of season hiding dished out to second place Slovan Bratislava. Bero ended the season with fifteen goals and a further eight assists as Trenčín delivered a second straight League and Cup double. 

Within weeks of the season ending van Kessel moved on to Sparta Prague and it would not be long before Bero also upped sticks, completing a £2m transfer to Turkish club Trabzonspor in early August.

Brought on as a late substitute for Güray Vural in a 2-0 victory over Kasimpasa on the opening day of the Super Lig season, Bero has gradually become a more and more important player for coach Ersun Yanal in Turkey.  In the last few weeks he has started his first match for Slovakia (a goalless friendly in Austria) and scored his first goal for Trabzonspor – the winner in an important single goal victory at Kayserispor.

What’s next?

Things are really starting to get interesting for Matúš Bero despite not yet being at a truly household name club, and we mean no disrespect to Karadeniz Fırtınası there!

Despite van Kessel’s claims we are very clear that Bero was the best player in Slovakia last season and his rise from local kid in the youth team to title winning hero is extremely impressive. Strong and aggressive, in Slovakia goals flowed not just because of Bero’s excellent technique and positioning, but because of his tenacity.  Rest assured this is a player greedy to do well and it’s this kind of spirit which is winning fans over at his new club.

Right now a huge door has opened for Matúš Bero and so far he has adapted quickly to every challenge he has been set.  Continued improvement at Trabzonspor is essential but it will be interesting to see where he plays his football in 2017-18.

In terms of a mark, let’s look at the evidence... 

Local boy progresses through ranks to become a regular starter at hometown club. Helps club deliver first ever league title. Develops into best player in league, scores and assists regularly from midfield, covers several positions and leads club to second straight league and cup double. Moves up to much higher standard league, becomes regular starter, begins to influence games and score goals. Starts first international match.

We still get a hard time for giving Lazar Markovic an A in 2011 but we’ll back that decision every time, he was sublime at Partizan. In contrast, Matus Bero may not be the fastest (although he is no slouch), and he may not be the most obvious contender to become a big star, but he has all of the tools at his disposal to suggest that he could become a very important player in years to come.  Technically adept, strong and extremely gutsy, Bero has enjoyed an incredible twelve months. Well done.

A     What a year, impossible to ask for more