Mato Jajalo

Mato Jajalo

Jajalo in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth25 May 1988
Place of birthJajce, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Palermo
Number28
Youth career
1993–1999DJK Eiche Offenbach
1999–2007Slaven Belupo
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2007–2009Slaven Belupo63(8)
2009–2010Siena25(0)
2010–20141. FC Köln90(5)
2014→ Sarajevo (loan)9(0)
2014–2015Rijeka18(1)
2015–Palermo11(0)
National team‡
2008–2009Croatia U207(1)
2007–2010Croatia U2121(4)
2014–Croatia1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 February 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2014

Mato Jajalo (born 25 May 1988) is a Bosnian-born Croatian footballer, who currently plays for Italian club Palermo.

Early years

Due to the upcoming war in then Yugoslavia, his family fled to Germany in 1990 when he was just two and a half years old. There he grew up in Offenbach and started playing football at local DJK Eiche Offenbach. When he was eleven years old, the family moved back to the Balkans, settling down close to Koprivnica in Croatia.[1]

Club career

Slaven Belupo

Jajalo rose through the ranks of Slaven Belupo and became a starter and key player in the 2006–07 campaign. He made 33 appearances the following campaign and scored four goals. In his final season for Slaven Belupo, He made 36 appearances, again scoring four goals from midfield.

Siena

On 1 June 2009, Jajalo was transferred to A.C. Siena for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around €2m[2] Jajalo had a somewhat successful first season in Italy, starting 14 matches and being substituted in a further 11 times.

Köln

In July 2010, Siena agreed on a one-year loan deal with 1. FC Köln with a clause in which the German club can buy out his contract, with the one year loan spell cost the Bundesliga side an estimated €250k.[3] In his first season in Germany, Jajalo was ever present in the first team, making 33 appearances in all competitions and even adding two goals.

In June 2011, he signed a contract making him Köln player on a permanent basis for €2m.[4] He again made 33 appearances in all competitions for Köln, scoring five goals, but couldn't prevent his side from relegation. Jajalo continued with Köln in the 2. Bundesliga, but had a poor season in which he struggled for form, playing much less than the previous two seasons. The following season, Jajalo made just 6 appearances in the first half of the season, not one after round 7, and was therefore loaned out to Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina side FK Sarajevo for the remainder of the season. Jajalo played in 9 of the remaining 11 games of the 13/14 season, with mostly positive performances.

Rijeka

On 24 June 2014, Jajalo signed a two-year contract with HNK Rijeka, where he featured in all but one official game during the first half of the 2014–15 campaign, including 12 games in the Europe League qualifying stages and group stage.[5] He scored his first goal for the ambitious Croatian club in a 3-1 win over NK Istra in Round 12.

He was released by Rijeka on disciplinary grounds on 23 January 2015 as he escaped from the training camp on 12 January for unexplained reasons.[6][7]

Palermo

On 28 January 2015 he was signed by Italian Serie A club Palermo on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract.[8] Jajalo made his debut for Palermo against Hellas Verona, playing 70 minutes in a 2-1 win.

International career

Jajalo has represented Croatia under various youth levels and was a member and a captain of the Croatian national under-21 team. He made his senior debut on 12 November 2014 in a friendly match against Argentina in London, coming as a 65th minute substitute for Anas Sharbini.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Mato Jajalo: Traum vom Fußballprofi gab's nicht" [Mato Jajalo: There was no dream of being a professional footballer] (in German). Kölnische Rundschau. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Rupnik, Borna (1 June 2009). "Jajalo ipak otišao u Italiju". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Vlahović, Nikola (2 July 2010). "Soldo potpisao Jajala". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Rupnik, Borna (18 June 2011). "Jajalo: Potpisat ću u ponedjeljak". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "Potpisao Mato Jajalo". nk-rijeka.hr (in Croatian). 24 June 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Vujnović, Korado (13 January 2015). "Jajalo pobjegao s priprema". Radio Rijeka (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Vujnović, Korado (23 January 2015). "Razišli se Rijeka i Jajalo". Radio Rijeka (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "JAJALO E' ROSANERO CONTRATTO FINO AL 2019" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Argentina 2-1 Croatia". BBC Sport. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.

External links