Žan Benedičič (born 3 October 1995) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

. Benedičič has also represented the

Slovenia national under-21 football team The Slovenia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. Players Current squad The following players were called up for the friendly matches again ...

Club career

Milan

After progressing through the youth ranks at

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Benedičič broke into the Milan Primavera side. For the Primavera side for the 2013–14 season, Benedičič made 35 appearances in all competitions scoring 6 goals. During the 2014–15 pre-season, he was called up to the Milan senior team for the tour of the US by new Milan manager and his former youth coach

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is t ...

, but on 29 July 2014, he flew home from the tour, strengthening speculation that he was preparing to sign on loan for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. On 30 July his agent Amir Ružnić confirmed Benedičič was close to a move to Leeds.

Loan to Leeds United

On 4 August 2014, it was confirmed that he had signed for Leeds United on a one-year loan deal, with the option for Leeds to buy at the end of the loan. Leeds head coach David Hockaday described Benedičič as "a versatile, strong and technical midfield player". He made his début for Leeds on 12 August when he came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

. Benedičič made his league début for Leeds United on 30 August in a 1–0 victory against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

. Shortly after making his debut, Benedičič picked up a knee injury with would rule him out for the season after he required knee surgery.

Return to Italy

After his loan spell expired at Leeds during the summer of 2015, he returned to Italy, signing for

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

where he made nine appearances before signing for

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, also making nine appearances.

Leyton Orient

On 19 September 2016, Benedičič joined

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

on a free transfer until January 2017. He left Orient in January after his contract was not renewed.

International career

Benedičič was capped for the

, making his debut on 6 June 2013, against Russia U21. He scored his first goal on 19 November 2013 when he scored a goal in Slovenia U21s' 5–1 victory against Bulgaria U21.

Honours

Celje *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football league system. ...

(1): 2019–20

Career statistics

References

External links

* *
NZS profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedicic, Zan 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Kranj Slovenian footballers Slovenia youth international footballers Slovenia under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Slovenian expatriate footballers Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in England A.C. Milan players Leeds United F.C. players Como 1907 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Olbia Calcio 1905 players English Football League players Serie B players Serie C players Leyton Orient F.C. players NK Celje players Slovenian PrvaLiga players