Goran Boromisa close to Kustošija: the returnee to the First NL seeks a sporting step forward
Goran Boromisa, until recently the sporting director of Olimpija from Ljubljana, is, according to available information, very close to taking over the position of sporting director at NK Kustošija. The agreement has not yet been officially confirmed, so at this moment it can be described as the final stage of negotiations, rather than a completed appointment. If the deal is finalized, the Zagreb club would gain an operator with experience working in an ambitious top-flight environment and with a reputation as a person who knows how to connect sporting development, scouting and the market value of players. For Kustošija, this would be a move that goes beyond the usual framework of a club that is only just returning to the second tier of Croatian football. According to information available on 21 June 2026, the decision should be formalized in the coming days, but the club’s official announcement has not yet been published.
Kustošija returns to the second tier with clear ambition
Kustošija is entering a new phase after returning to the SuperSport First NL, the competition that represents the second level of Croatian league football. According to data from the Croatian Football Federation on the Semafor platform, NK Kustošija is among the clubs registered for the SuperSport First NL in the 2026/27 season, together with clubs such as HNK Cibalia, HNK Segesta, NK Sesvete, NK Dubrava Tim Kabel, NK Dugopolje, NK Opatija and GNK Dinamo II. On 22 May 2026, Nacional reported that Kustošija had secured promotion and a return to the First NL after three seasons with a 1:1 draw against Uljanik, because that result preserved its points advantage ahead of its closest competitors outside the promotion zone. That result was important both sporting-wise and organizationally, because the club received confirmation that its project does not stop at the development and transfers of young players. The return to a higher tier now opens the question of structure, professional leadership and the club’s ability to build a sustainable system in a more stable competitive environment.
Even before the final stage of the season, the club received important administrative confirmation. On 29 April 2026, Kustošija announced that it had obtained a licence for the SuperSport First NL for the 2026/27 competitive season, explaining that the Licensing Commission of the Croatian Football Federation had established that the mandatory criteria had been met. The club’s announcement stated that the sporting, infrastructural, legal, administrative and financial requirements were covered, and listed Stadion Ivan Laljak-Ivić in Zaprešić and Stadion NK Kustošija in Zagreb as licensed stadiums. This is especially important because an ambitious sporting project cannot rest only on the playing squad and transfer policy, but must also have functional infrastructure, administration and financial discipline. In its statement on the completion of the central club licensing procedure for the 2026/27 season, the HNS emphasized that clubs must continue to meet the prescribed conditions during the licensed year, with the possibility of licence revocation if they do not comply with them.
Why Boromisa’s arrival would be important
Boromisa would bring to Kustošija the profile of a sporting operator who is rarely associated with clubs outside the highest tier. At Olimpija, he was part of a period in which the Ljubljana club competed at the top of Slovenian football and appeared in a European context, while official club announcements from previous seasons regularly listed him as sporting director. His work there was not limited only to bringing in players, but included squad planning, communication around transfer windows and cooperation with coaches in circumstances of high result expectations. Precisely that kind of experience is important for Kustošija if the club wants to move from the phase of an interesting development project into the phase of a stable second-division or, in the long term, first-division system. In that sense, Boromisa could be the link between the sporting sector, the market for young players and the result ambitions of the first team.
His departure from Olimpija was a surprise because at the beginning of April 2026 the club officially announced that the planned contract extension had not been realized. Olimpija president Adam Delius then stated that Boromisa had been offered the best contract any sporting director of that club had ever received, but that he did not accept it. According to Delius’s explanation in the official announcement, Boromisa expressed a wish to devote more time to his family in the future, first asked for time to think, and then requested to be relieved of his position. In the same statement, Olimpija said that ongoing staffing matters would pass into the responsibility of the new sporting director. The current leadership page of the Ljubljana club meanwhile lists Necat Aygün as sporting director, confirming that the change in Olimpija’s sporting sector has been carried out.
Kustošija’s model requires stronger sporting coordination
In recent years, Kustošija has attracted public attention because of the way in which, from a lower tier, it opened a path for young players toward much larger European and global markets. The best-known example remains the transfer of Mikayil Faye to Barcelona. In June 2023, FC Barcelona officially announced an agreement with NK Kustošija Zagreb for the Senegalese defender, who signed a contract until 30 June 2027, with a release clause of 400 million euros. The Catalan club then stated that Faye had played 13 matches for Kustošija, 11 of them as a starter, after arriving at the Zagreb club from the Diambars academy. That transfer made Kustošija recognizable beyond the usual boundaries of the Croatian second and third tiers, but at the same time increased expectations of the club.
Media reports in recent months have further highlighted the breadth of Kustošija’s project. At the beginning of June 2026, Sportnet wrote that the club had reached a basic value of 12.5 million euros through a series of outgoing transfers and that the idea of a stronger sporting and infrastructural step forward was developing around Kustošija. The same portal stated that, because of the condition of the pitch and drainage at its home stadium, the club is counting on the stadium in Zaprešić for appearances in the SuperSport First NL, which coincides with Kustošija’s announcement on licensed stadiums. Such information should be viewed with caution until all details are officially confirmed, but it shows that a perception is forming around the club as a project that wants to grow faster than the typical rhythm of lower-league football. In such an environment, the sporting director is not only the person responsible for transfers, but a key coordinator between ownership ambitions, the coaching staff, the academy, scouting and financial sustainability.
The second tier brings a different kind of pressure
For Kustošija, returning to the First NL means entering a competition in which ambitions will have to be confirmed on a daily basis against clubs with greater experience, more developed supporter bases and more stable second-division routines. According to the HNS Semafor, the 2026/27 season brings together a broader circle of clubs, and the expansion of the competition to 16 participants further changes the dynamics of the league. Dalmatinski nogomet, citing a decision of the HNS Executive Board, reported in March that the four best-placed clubs from the Second NL that have the required licence would enter the First NL, along with other changes in the composition of the competition. Such a format increases the number of matches, broadens the competition and creates a different balance between development teams, traditional clubs and ambitious projects. For Kustošija, this means that the sporting strategy will have to be more precise than it was in the lower tier.
Boromisa’s possible arrival could therefore be read as an attempt to strengthen the sporting part of the project before the start of the new season. A club that wants to develop young players, create market value and at the same time be competitive in the league must have a clear hierarchy of decision-making. This includes defining player profiles, selecting reinforcements, the relationship with the academy, planning loans, managing the minutes of young footballers and aligning transfer windows with result objectives. In the lower tier, such decisions can sometimes be made more quickly and flexibly, but the First NL demands a higher level of control. That is precisely why appointing a sporting director with international experience is an important signal, even before there is talk of specific playing reinforcements.
Caution until official confirmation
Despite strong indications, the deal with Boromisa had not been officially announced by 21 June 2026. That is an important distinction because sporting negotiations often enter the final stage before clubs confirm an agreement, and the details of the role, the length of the contract and the scope of authority can be decisive for the final outcome. According to available information, Kustošija’s intention is clear: the club wants to raise the level of organization and send a message that it does not see its return to the First NL as a short-term result, but as the beginning of a new stage. Boromisa fits into that picture with his experience from Olimpija, where he worked in an environment with high ambitions and constant pressure for results. But until official confirmation arrives, his possible arrival should be described as advanced negotiations, not as a completed staffing decision.
For Kustošija, the coming days could therefore be as important off the pitch as on it. The licence has been secured, the place in the SuperSport First NL has been recorded in the HNS system, and the sporting project has already attracted attention because of transfers and ambitions that go beyond the usual profile of a club from a Zagreb neighbourhood. If Boromisa really takes over the position of sporting director, the first task will not only be bringing in big names, but setting up a system that can withstand the pressure of a higher tier. That is where the seriousness of Kustošija’s new project will be measured: not only through individual transfers, but through the ability to combine results, player development and organizational stability into a sustainable model.
Sources:
- NK Olimpija Ljubljana – official statement on the departure of Goran Boromisa from the position of sporting director, published on 5 April 2026 (link)
- NK Olimpija Ljubljana – current club leadership page, on which Necat Aygün is listed as sporting director (link)
- Croatian Football Federation / Semafor – list of clubs in the SuperSport First NL for the 2026/27 season, including NK Kustošija (link)
- NK Kustošija – official announcement on obtaining the licence for the SuperSport First NL in the 2026/27 season (link)
- SuperSport HNL / HNS – statement on the completion of the central club licensing procedure for the 2026/27 season (link)
- Nacional – report on Kustošija’s draw with Uljanik and return to the First NL after three seasons (link)
- FC Barcelona – official announcement of Mikayil Faye’s transfer from NK Kustošija Zagreb to Barça Atlètic (link)
- Sportnet – analysis of Kustošija’s transfer and infrastructure project ahead of its appearance in the SuperSport First NL (link)
- Dalmatinski nogomet – report on the HNS decision on the expansion of the SuperSport First NL and the promotion of clubs from the Second NL subject to the licence requirement (link)