Alen Halilović
%2C_Alen_Halilovic_-_Croatia_vs._Portugal%2C_10th_June_2013_(crop).jpg) Halilović playing for Croatia in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alen Halilović | ||
| Date of birth | 18 June 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Dubrovnik, Croatia[1] | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Barcelona B | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2012–2014 | Dinamo Zagreb | 44 | (7) |
| 2014– | Barcelona B | 23 | (3) |
| 2015– | Barcelona | 0 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2010 | Croatia U14 | 2 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | Croatia U15 | 6 | (3) |
| 2012 | Croatia U16 | 4 | (1) |
| 2012–2013 | Croatia U17 | 10 | (2) |
| 2013 | Croatia U18 | 3 | (1) |
| 2014– | Croatia U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2013– | Croatia | 7 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:14, 27 April 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Alen Halilović (born 18 June 1996) is a Croatian footballer who plays for the Spanish club FC Barcelona B as an attacking midfielder.
As the Prva HNL's youngest ever goalscorer and the youngest ever debutant for the Croatian national team, he is considered to be one of the most promising young talents of European football.[2][3]
On 27 March 2014, FC Barcelona reached an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb for a five-year transfer to the club.[4]
Club career
Dinamo Zagreb
On 27 September 2012, he made his debut for the first team in the "Eternal derby" win over Hajduk Split (3–1), when he replaced Sammir for the final ten minutes of the match.[5] This made him the youngest debutant in the history of Dinamo Zagreb, at the age of 16 years and 101 days. In the next round match against Slaven Belupo, he again came off the bench and scored the final goal in a 4–1 victory. This made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the league, at the age of 16 years and 112 days – breaking the record set in November 2010 by his former teammate, Mateo Kovačić.[6] In November 2012, he scored his second league goal for Dinamo in a 5–0 win against NK Zadar, from outside of the box on an assist provided by Kovačić.[7] In his first professional season with Dinamo, he also managed to participate in UEFA Champions League. On 24 October 2012, he made his European debut in the 90th minute of the encounter against the French team Paris Saint-Germain at Maksimir Stadium, coming on as a substitute for Kovačić. Thus he became the club's youngest player ever to feature in a Champions League match, and second youngest player in the history of the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona
On 27 March 2014, FC Barcelona reached an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb for Halilović to join Barcelona in July 2014 at the start of the summer transfer window. Halilović signed a five-year contract for an initial amount of €2.2 million, set to increase if he secures a spot on the first team. He will start his Barcelona career on the club's reserve team, FC Barcelona B. Regarding the transfer, he commented: "I am delighted and it’s hard to find the words to describe how I feel. Thank you very much to Dinamo, who will always be my first love and the club where my dreams started coming true. I would like to thank all the Dinamo youth coaches and all of the fans. Of course, Barcelona is something special, I have loved the club since I was a kid and it will be an honour to be able to play for Barça. But before that, I want to win the double with Dinamo and then I’ll start concentrating on my new club".[4] On 2 April 2014, FIFA announced that Barcelona would be banned from buying players until summer 2015 after illegally signing underaged players, putting the move in doubt.[8] On 23 April 2014, FC Barcelona's transfer ban was suspended pending an appeal, allowing the transfer to go ahead for the time being.[9] On 2 May 2014, Halilović signed for Barcelona on a five-year contract for €2.2 million.[10]
Halilović made his first appearance for Barcelona's main squad on 15 January 2015, replacing Adama Traoré for the last 28 minutes of a 4–0 away win against Elche CF in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.[11][12]
International career
Halilović represented Croatian national team at various youth levels. In March 2013, he was a member of Croatia U17 that qualified for the European Under-17 championship in Slovakia.[13] On 10 June 2013, Halilović made his debut for the senior team against Portugal in a friendly match as a 50th-minute substitute for Ivan Strinić. At age 16, he became the youngest debutant in the history of Croatia.[14][15]
Honours
Club
- Dinamo Zagreb
- Prva HNL: 2012–13, 2013–14
- Croatian Supercup: 2013–14
Career statistics
Club
- As of 27 April 2015[1]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[nb 1] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2012–13 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | 26 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 8[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 41 | 6 | |
| Total | 44 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 8 | |
| Barcelona B | 2014–15 | 23 | 3 | — | 23 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 23 | 3 | — | 23 | 3 | ||||||
| Barcelona | 2014–15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Career totals | 67 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 11 | |
- ↑ All appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ↑ Three appearances UEFA Champions League,Five appearances in Europa League
- ↑ Appearances in Croatian Football Super Cup
International
- As of 19 January 2015[16]
| Croatia national team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | |
Personal life
His father Sejad Halilović is a former Croatian and Bosnian international who also played for Dinamo Zagreb.[17] The entire family relocated to Barcelona when he signed for them, with his younger brother being signed for Barcelona's youth team.[17]
Notes
- ↑ Includes cup competitions such as the Croatian Cup and Copa del Rey
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Croatia – A. Halilović". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ↑ Sharland, Peter. "Stars of the future: A look at some of European football's most talented 16-year-olds". GiveMeFootball. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ "Sky Sports Scout – Alen Halilovic". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Agreement with Dynamo Zagreb for Alen Halilovic transfer". FC Barcelona official website. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ↑ Dominik, Ivan (29 September 2012). "Alen Halilović debitirao za Dinamo u derbiju: "Osjećaj je fenomenalan i presretan sam"". Sportnet. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ "Halilović postao najmlađi strijelac u povijest HNL-a: 'Hvala Čačiću i Beqiraju'". Sportske Novosti. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ "Halilović nakon golčine Zadru: "Lijepo mi je". Index.hr. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ "Barcelona hit with a year-long transfer ban for breaching rules on youngsters". Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ↑ "Barcelona transfer ban suspended". Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ↑ "Alen Halilovic signs till 2019: "It's a great day"". fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ↑ "Cuando el trámite se convierte en un placer" [When the procedure becomes a pleasure] (in Spanish). Marca. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ↑ "Elche - Barcelona". BBC Sport. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ↑ "Hrvatska na Euru U-17 u skupini s Italijom, Rusijom i Ukrajinom". Večernji list. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ↑ "Croatia vs Portugal". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ↑ "Transfer news: Barcelona complete signing of Croatian starlet Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb in €2.2m (£1.8m) deal". Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ↑ Alen Halilović at National-Football-Teams.com
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Two in one: After Alen, Dino also signs
External links
- Alen Halilović at National-Football-Teams.com
| ||||||