After a four-year break, Dinamo's B team is back in action. Coach Jerko Leko gathered the players on Thursday at the start of preparations for the new competitive year, formally marking the return of the youth team project that will compete in the Prva NL, the second tier of Croatian football, from this summer. The championship will start on August 22nd, Dinamo's B team will not have the right to promotion to the elite division, and in this first comeback season they will not be able to be relegated to a lower tier either.

The main idea of the project is player development during the sensitive transition period from youth to senior football, and the team has been led into the new season by former celebrated Dinamo player and Croatian international Jerko Leko, who coached the blues' youth team last season. The B team staff also includes assistants Tomislav Žitković and Ronald Šiklić, fitness coach Mateo Matić, goalkeeper coach Marko Šarlija, team manager Davor Bukovina, doctor Hrvoje Šojat, analyst Luka Tuđen, physiotherapists Nikola Hlajić and Ivan Halambek as well as administrator Tomislav Švedi.

Coach Leko gathered the lads on Thursday at the auxiliary pitch "Zlatko Cico Kranjčar" where he received full support at the first training session from first team coach Mario Kovačević as well as Dinamo academy director Albert Capellas.

The basic B team squad currently includes goalkeepers Tai Žnuderl, Petar Lončarević and Luka Križić, defenders Noa Mikić, Marko Zebić, Nikola Radnić, Borna Orlić, Gabriel Proleta, Petar Šimun Žaja, Nikolas Šimić and Sven Lovrić, midfielders Sven Šunta, Josip Brundić, Tomas Baković, Krešimir Radoš, Kaloyan Bozhkov and Fuzy Taylor, wingers Patrik Horvat, Cardoso Varela, Gabrijel Šivalec, Karlo Zulfić, Ayoub Abdallah Makhfaoui and Egor Molchan and forwards Lovre Kulušić, Mislav Ćutuk, Leonardo Perković and Roko Ban.

Missing from the gathering were U-19 internationals Zebić, Mikić and Baković who were given ten days off, then Šimić, Perković and Kulušić due to injury problems, Šunta due to first team commitments, while Taylor and Molchan will join later.

– I'm pleased that the Dinamo B team project has started again, competing in the second tier will also be a process of growing up and 'development', this league competition is ideal for us to have young players under control, to work in the same system and with the same principles as the first team. The start was good, I'm pleased that our first team coach Mario Kovačević came to visit us on this first day. Communication between the first team and B team will be at a high level, and that's important. We'll coordinate regarding players needed for training, about who will be 'sent down' to the B team and when... Organizationally everything is good, we're ready for the start. We'll play five friendly matches before the championship begins, we have time to prepare well – emphasized coach Leko.

Already on the first day, a strong rhythm was visible, a busy schedule that included meetings, analysis, training...

– We have six weeks of preparation ahead of us, of which the first three will be the most intensive. After that comes a gradual reduction in pace and more tactical training. These are young lads, we must try to be tactically more mature in order to accept the principles that the first team works on. We already worked on these principles last season with the youth team, and the desire is to now raise it to an even higher level. Now it's no longer about 'generational' football, they'll play against older opponents and must adapt to that. They're playing against experienced opponents and now it's not enough to just be good and technically stronger to dominate. It's different football, but it will benefit them to arrive at the first team better prepared.

Squad changes and player fluctuation during the season, both to seniors and to youth teams, were the destiny of the B team from the beginning because it was conceived as a kind of 'intermediate space' between the youth and first team.

– That's right, Milan Badelj will take over the youth team, we collaborated last season. What the first team requests from me, I will be able to request from the youth team. It's important that the lads play as much as possible, that every player who is 'moved up' or 'sent down' in that range from youth, B or first team, gets playing time. Training is always good, but the match is important and we ensure that everyone has as many minutes on the pitch as possible – concluded coach Leko.