Loan spells don’t always prove fruitful for Liverpool, but Vitezslav Jaros continues to make the most of his temporary transfers after adding another trophy to his collection this week.
Jaros joined Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga in January and has since made 18 appearances after quickly earning the title of first-choice goalkeeper.
The 22-year-old’s year has been non-stop, with a club debut, an international call-up, a title run and now a trophy to celebrate – and there’s potential for more success too.
The trophy in question was won on Wednesday evening after Sturm Graz secured a 2-1 victory over Rapid Wien in the Austrian Cup final, with two second-half goals completing the comeback for Jaros’ side.
The Liverpool loanee conceded the first goal of the game after Matthias Seidl reacted first to Jaros’ save, which was parried on the edge of the penalty area and left him with little chance of recovering.
Sturm Graz were back after half-time, however, with a 50th-minute own goal to level the scores before Tomi Horvat led Jaros and Co. to victory with a responsive finish in the 81st minute.
This is the second piece of silverware loaned to Jaros after winning the FAI Cup in Ireland with St Patrick’s Athletic in 2021, following heroics in the penalty shootout.
That trophy wasn’t won in quite as dramatic fashion, but it will be just as memorable for the 22-year-old, who recently spoke to It’s Anfield about his loan in a “very good league”.
And that makes it all the more impressive that they could soon win the championship since Sturm Graz are three games away from the Austrian Bundesliga title, they are three points ahead of Salzburg with three games remaining.
Jaros has played 11 times in the league since his January transfer, keeping four clean sheets and conceding just eight goals in that time, resulting in just one league defeat.
