Darijan Bojanić (; born 28 December 1994) is a Swedish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

club

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in ...

Early life

His parents fled from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

during the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

while his mother was pregnant with him. Bojanić was born in Växjö,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, and grew up in

Gislaved Gislaved () is a locality and the seat of Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 10,231 inhabitants in 2017, out of a municipal total of nearly 30,000. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Gislaved: * Gislaveds IS G ...

. His mother is of

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

descent, while his father is ethnically Croat. Bojanić is fluent in the Bosnian language.

Club career

Östers IF

In 2010, after debuting in the senior team at local club Gislaveds IS at age 16, Bojanić moved to

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in Association football, football, and playing in the second tier of Swedish football, Superettan. The club has ...

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

, Sweden's second tier. Around that time, he also attracted interest from several European clubs, reportedly

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Heerenveen. In 2012, Bojanić made 12 appearances as Öster won Superettan and got promoted to the first division. In 2013, Bojanić made his debut in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, aged 18. Midway through the season, after making 14 appearances for Öster, he transferred to IFK Göteborg.

IFK Göteborg

On 2 August 2013, Bojanić signed a four and a half-year contract with IFK Göteborg, but failed to make an impact at the club. He reportedly had disciplinary issues during his stay at IFK Göteborg and Bojanić later admitted that he once fell asleep during a team meeting. In total, Bojanić would only make 10 league appearances for the side.

Helsingborgs IF

On 15 July 2014, Bojanić moved to Helsingborgs IF. He reunited with his former coach from Öster,

Roar Hansen Roar Hansen (born 28 February 1966) is a Swedish association football, football manager in charge of Ängelholms FF in the Swedish Division 2 (Swedish football), Division 2. After a short playing career in the lower divisions he spent 18 years co ...

, and soon established himself as a starting player at the club. Bojanić fell out of favour with manager

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...

in 2016 after the player had criticised his coach in the media. Helsingborg got relegated to Superettan the same year. In 2017, he went on loan to

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The ...

in Allsvenskan, but failed to make an impact, only making four league appearances for the side. He won the

2016–17 Svenska Cupen The 2016–17 Svenska Cupen was the 61st season of Svenska Cupen and the fifth season with the current format. The winners of the competition will earn a place in the second qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, unless they have alr ...

, the main domestic cup, with Östersund. In 2018, Bojanić played 29 games, scored six goals and provided 13 assists, as Helsingborg won a promotion to Allsvenskan. At the end of the season, he was voted as Superettan Player of the Year.

Hammarby IF

2019

On 26 November 2018, Bojanić moved on a free transfer to

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

, signing a three and a half-year contract. He played 29 games in the 2019 season, scoring four goals and providing 11 assists, the most in the league, as Hammarby finished third in the table after eight straight wins at the end of the campaign. He vas voted as Allsvenskan Player of the Month in October, and Hammarby Player of the Season by the fans at the end of the year.

2020

In January 2020, Bojanić signed a new three and a half-year contract with Hammarby. The season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

with Bojanić being in poor form and plagued by injuries, only making 23 appearances as his side disappointedly finished 8th in the table. Although, he scored from a free-kick in the first round of the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United i ...

against Puskás Akadémia (in a 3–0 win), before the club was eliminated from the tournament in the second round against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

(in a 0–3 loss).

2021

On 30 May 2021, Bojanić won the

2020–21 Svenska Cupen The 2020–21 Svenska Cupen was the 65th season of the Svenska Cupen and the ninth season with the current format. Hammarby won the cup for the first time and secured a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference Le ...

with Hammarby, through a 5–4 win on penalties (0–0 after full-time) against BK Häcken in the final. He featured in all six games as the side reached the play-off round of the

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Roma ...

, after eliminating

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

(4–1 on aggregate) and FK Čukarički (6–4 on aggregate), where the club was knocked out by

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

(4–4 on aggregate) after a penalty shoot-out, in which Bojanić missed his attempt. On 23 September 2021, Bojanić was appointed as the new club captain of Hammarby by head coach Miloš Milojević, replacing Jeppe Andersen. On 2 April 2022, Bojanić was demoted to vice-captain by new head coach

Martí Cifuentes Martí Cifuentes Corvillo (born 7 July 1982) is a Spanish football coach who is the head coach of Hammarby IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Career Early career Cifuentes had short spells coaching in the youth departments of Ajax and Millwall. H ...

, being replaced by

Richard Magyar Richard Göran Emil Magyar (; born 3 May 1991) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. In a 12-year career, he represented and captained both Halmstads BK and Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, also spending time abroa ...

2022

Bojanić featured in the final of the

2021–22 Svenska Cupen The 2021–22 Svenska Cupen is the 66th season of the Svenska Cupen and the tenth season with the current format. The winners of the competition will secure a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, unl ...

, in which Hammarby lost by 4–5 on penalties to

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

after the game ended in a 0–0 draw. During the summer, he reportedly attracted interest from

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, but their bid was rejected. In the league, Bojanić scored four goals in 29 appearances, often captaining his side, that ultimately finished 3rd in the Allsvenskan table. On 10 November 2022, shortly after the final game of the season, Hammarby accepted a bid from

club

for his transfer, subject to the player's personal agreement.

Ulsan Hyundai

On 14 November 2022, Ulsan Hyundai confirmed that they had reached an agreement for his transfer, effective in January 2023.

International career

Between 2011 and 2014, Bojanić won several caps for both the Swedish U17 and U19 teams. Bojanić was called up to the Swedish senior squad for the training tour in early 2020. He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly win against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

on 9 January 2020. Three days later, on 12 January, he provided the assist to

Simon Hedlund Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan club Elfsborg. Hedlund joined IF Elfsborg at the age of 16 and debuted in the Allsvenskan in 2012. In 2016, he moved to Uni ...

as Sweden won 1–0 against

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. Manager

Janne Andersson Jan Olof "Janne" Andersson (; born 29 September 1962) is a Swedish football coach who manages the Sweden national team. He is also a former player, with his playing career lasting 14 years between 1979 and 1993 playing for different Swedish cl ...

praised him as one of the best Swedish players during the tour. In 2021, Bojanić confirmed that he was contemplating switching his allegiance to

, where his family originally is from, pending a call-up and an application for dual citizenship.

Style of play

As a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Bojanić is known for his strong passing game and technique. He is also a set piece-specialist.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Gislaveds IS * Division 3 Sydvästra Götaland:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Östers IF *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Östersunds FK * Svenska Cupen: 2016–17 Helsingborgs IF * Superettan:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Hammarby IF * Svenska Cupen:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Ulsan Hyundai *

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2019 *

Player of the Year: 2018 *

top assist provider:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

*
IFK Göteborg profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bojanic, Darijan 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Växjö Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Swedish people of Croatian descent Swedish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Östers IF players IFK Göteborg players Helsingborgs IF players Östersunds FK players Hammarby Fotboll players Ulsan HD FC players Men's association football midfielders Allsvenskan players Superettan players Division 3 (Swedish football) players K League 1 players Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Swedish expatriate men's footballers