When Hajduk appointed a sporting director whose standout qualification was experience in Poland’s second division, supporters were assured they had found the architect of a squad capable of winning the Croatian title and making a serious impact in Europe.

As it turns out, one small detail was overlooked.

To build a squad, you generally need players.

The opening move of this footballing visionary was refreshingly unconventional. Three of last season’s key players—Krovinović, Šarlija and Guillamón—were shown the door.

Their replacements?

Silence.

It was a bold statement. Why clutter a dressing room with footballers when empty spaces can be just as inspiring?

Eventually, reinforcements did arrive.

One came from Spain’s second division and wasted no time demonstrating why recruitment is football’s most expensive lottery. Against Varaždin, he delivered such a compelling first-half performance that his evening ended after just 45 minutes. Few players manage to make such a decisive impression quite so quickly.

Another exciting addition arrived from the Albanian league. His contribution has been nothing short of flawless. He remains unbeaten, largely because he has yet to play a single minute. Protecting a player by never exposing him to football is certainly an innovative approach to squad management.

The third signing arrived from the Netherlands, where he helped his previous club on its journey from the Eredivisie to the second tier. Experience is everything, after all. Perhaps that’s exactly the kind of expertise Hajduk were looking for. And should the club ever find itself travelling in the same direction, at least the sporting director will be returning to surroundings with which he’s already comfortably familiar.

Then came the transfer window’s pièce de résistance.

Hajduk sold Durdov, arguably their brightest young right winger, for around €850,000.

A perfectly reasonable piece of business.

The truly visionary part was failing to notice that he also happened to be the club’s only natural right winger.

Problem?

Apparently not.

The solution was beautifully elegant: sign more left wingers.

It’s the footballing equivalent of replacing all four tyres on your car with steering wheels and calling it technological progress.

Perhaps ordinary football supporters simply lack the intellectual capacity to appreciate such revolutionary thinking. Maybe positions are an outdated concept. Maybe right wingers are merely a social construct. Maybe the right flank has been vastly overrated all these years.

Football has witnessed tactical revolutions before.

This may well be the first one based on removing players faster than replacing them.

Of course, it’s still early.

Football has a habit of making fools of critics.

Unfortunately, it also has a habit of exposing clubs that confuse improvisation with long-term planning.

If this really is the blueprint for returning Hajduk to the summit of Croatian football, one can’t help wondering what Plan B looks like.

Perhaps next summer they’ll sell the goalkeeper and replace him with yet another left winger.

At least then the squad would finally achieve perfect symmetry.

One thing, however, already feels certain.

If Hajduk continue treating squad building as an exercise in competitive minimalism, European football won’t be the destination.

The only table worth watching may soon be the one much closer to the bottom.