Miha Zajc (born 1 July 1994) is a Slovenian

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

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 Fenerbahçe and the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Interblock

Zajc was born in

Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. The c ...

. As a youth, he played in the youth selections of Interblock from the capital of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. He made his senior debut on 3 March 2012 against

Dravinja The Dravinja (german: Drann, ) is the largest tributary of the Drava River in Slovenia. It is long. Its source is on the Pohorje Massif southwest of Mount Rogla about 1,150 m above sea level. The river passes Zreče, the town of Slovenske Konjice, ...

and made a total of five league appearances in his first and last year at Interblock.

Loan to Olimpija and Celje

In summer 2012 Zajc moved to Olimpija Ljubljana. He played only one game with the club, against Mura 05 in the

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. ...

, where he scored two goals in an eventual 3–1 victory. Zajc moved on loan to

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

in January 2013. He made his league debut with Celje on 2 March 2013, starting the match in a 0–0 draw against Gorica. The loan was also confirmed for the following season and on 30 October 2013 he scored his first goal, in a 3–1 home defeat against Rudar Velenje in the second leg of the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

. On 12 April 2014 he scored his first goal in the Slovenian PrvaLiga with Celje, scoring the team's second goal in a 2–0 home win over Triglav Kranj.

Olimpija Ljubljana

Zajc returned to Olimpija for the 2014–15 season. He made his second debut for Olimpija on 16 August 2014 in a 2–0 league win against Rudar Velenje. With Olimpija, he won the 2015–16 PrvaLiga title. His last season with the club was the 2016–17 season, in which he scored 7 goals before leaving the club in the winter transfer window. In his three seasons with Olimpija, he made 70 appearances and collected 16 goals in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.

Empoli

Zajc moved to

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

on 25 January 2017, and signed a four-year contract. He debuted in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

on 29 January in a 4–1 defeat against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

. In his first season, he made five appearances and scored one goal in Serie A. However, Empoli was relegated to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

at the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. Zajc made 41 appearances in the

2017–18 Serie B The 2017–18 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 returning from the 2016–17 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2016–1 ...

season, scoring 8 goals and as many as 14 assists, making a fundamental contribution to Empoli's return to Serie A. In the following season, Zajc played 20 games in the

2018–19 Serie A The 2018–19 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 117th season of top-tier Italian football, the 87th in a round-robin tournament, and the 9th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

with the Tuscan club, scoring 3 goals and providing 2 assists. He however did not finish the season at Empoli as he changed the club in the winter transfer window.

Fenerbahçe

Zajc moved to Fenerbahçe in the midst of the 2018–19 season, making 10 appearances in the

2018–19 Süper Lig The 2018–19 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig Lefter Küçükandonyadis season, was the 61st season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season began on 10 August 2018 and concluded in May 2019 ...

. That year Fenerbahçe reached the

round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

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 ...

, and finished sixth in the national championship. In the next season, in which he suffered an ankle ligaments injury, Zajc played only 17 games with Fenerbahçe, scoring two goals.

Loan to Genoa

Zajc moved to Italian side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in September 2020. With Genoa he reached the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

in the

2020–21 Coppa Italia The 2020–21 Coppa Italia (branded as the TIMVISION Cup for sponsorship reasons during the final) was the 74th edition of the national cup in Italian football. Napoli were the defending champions, but were defeated by Atalanta in the semi-finals ...

, and placed eleventh in the

2020–21 Serie A The 2020–21 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th season of top-tier Italian football, the 89th in a round-robin tournament, and the 11th since its organization under an own league committee, the Lega Serie ...

. Zajc made 31 league appearances during the season, provided 3 assists and also scored one goal, against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

on 9 January 2021. During his time at Genoa he contributed to the club's positive performances in Serie A, especially with his assists.

International career

Between 2009 and 2016, Zajc played for Slovenia at all youth international levels from under-16 to under-21. He debuted for the senior team in March 2016 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Macedonia.

Player profile

Style of play

Zajc is a ''

trequartista 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 ...

'' who can be employed behind one or two strikers, and can also play as a central midfielder. When needed he has also played 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 ...

and left midfielder. He is considered a very technical player, and among his qualities are his

set pieces "Set Pieces" is the first EP release by Canadian indie band Braids. The EP was released in 2008 under the band's original name, The Neighbourhood Council. Recording The EP was recorded at CJSW in Calgary, Canada Calgary ( ) is the larges ...

ability and ability to defend the ball. Zajc is endowed with tactical vision and strategic planning. He is a right footed, and also has good dribbling skills and a good long-range shot. Zajc has stated that he is inspired by

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attack ...

Reception

After moving to Empoli, Zajc impressed with his performances in Italy, leading Empoli to its promotion to Serie A. A talented player, his continuity has sometimes been criticized.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zajc goal''.

Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana *

: 2015–16 Empoli *

: 2017–18

References

External links

NZS profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zajc, Miha 1994 births Living people People from Šempeter pri Gorici Slovenian footballers Slovenia youth international footballers Slovenia under-21 international footballers Slovenia international footballers Association football midfielders NK IB 1975 Ljubljana players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players NK Celje players Empoli F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Genoa C.F.C. players Slovenian Second League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Serie A players Serie B players Süper Lig players Slovenian expatriate footballers Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey