Franko Kovačević (born 8 August 1999) is a Croatian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who plays as a winger for German club Wehen Wiesbaden.

Club career

Born in

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of the Koprivnica-Križevci county. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total popu ...

, Kovačević grew up in the city of

Križevci Križevci (; la, Crisium; hu, Kőrös ; german: Kreutz ) is a city in central Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the city itself (2011), the oldest city in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County. History The f ...

. At the age of 10, he joined the youth academy of

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

, before switching to

Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. History ...

a year later. According to him, he started taking football seriously and started "serious training" during his stint at Bjelovar. At the age of 15, he switched to the

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. After having spent one year at the club, he was called by German club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

's manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

to train with their team. In spite of the club expressing their interest in him, he joined

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

on 16 June 2018 and was promoted to the first team. On 24 August 2017, Kovačević made his first team debut, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Hamza Barry in a 1–1 draw against English club Everton in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 3 March 2018, he made his league debut, coming as a substitute in a 1–0 victory over Rudeš. On 15 February 2019, Kovačević was loaned out to Rudeš for the rest of the season. At the end of the season, Rudeš activated the option to sign him permanently for the transfer fee of €300,000. However, a week after activating the option, he was sold to German club

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

where he was supposed to play for the U23 team in the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

. Kovačević signed a four-year contract with the German club.

FC Cincinnati (loan)

On 12 October 2020, it was announced that Kovačević would be loaned out to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

for the remainder of the 2020 season with an option to extend through 2021.

Pafos

On 5 August 2021, Kovačević signed with Cypriot side

Pafos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

Domžale

On 12 August 2022, Kovačević joined

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. ...

side

Domžale Domžale (; german: Domschale)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of Municipality of Domžale. The town lies ...

on a three-year contract.

Wehen Wiesbaden

On 3 August 2023, Kovačević returned to Germany and signed with Wehen Wiesbaden in 2. Bundesliga.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Franko 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Koprivnica Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards HNK Hajduk Split players HNK Hajduk Split II players NK Rudeš players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II players FC Cincinnati players Pafos FC players NK Domžale players SV Wehen Wiesbaden players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Regionalliga players Major League Soccer players Cypriot First Division players Slovenian PrvaLiga players 2. Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia