The powerful, athletic centre-forward started out in junior football with his hometown side Radece located between Ljubljana and Zagreb, where he had two spells either side of a short stay at Rudar Trbovilje. By the time he was performing at Under-15s level, he was with Krsko, the goals were flowing at a staggering rate (59 in 23 league games) and he made the Slovenia national team in this age group.
A switch to top-flight side Domzale soon led to greater awareness of his prodigious talents.
Remarkably, this is even when United were first linked with the rookie hitman but it has been reported that he was keen not to move into one of the major leagues too soon, preferring to learn his trade step by step.