Nikola Katić (; born 10 October 1996) is a Bosnian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for 2. Bundesliga club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Katić started his professional career at HNK Stolac, before joining Neretvanac Opuzen in 2014. Two years later he switched to

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

. In 2018, he moved to

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, who loaned him to

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in 2021. The following year, Katić signed with Zürich, who sent him on loan to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

in 2025. Later that year, he was transferred to Schalke 04. A former Croatian youth international, Katić also made his senior international debut for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, before switching his allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024.

Club career

Early career

Katić came through the youth setup of HNK Stolac, which he joined in 2001. He made his professional debut in 2013 at the age of 16, before moving to Croatian team Neretvanac Opuzen in March 2014. In December 2015, he switched to

. On 7 May 2017, he scored his first professional goal in a triumph over Istra 1961.

Rangers

In June 2018, Katić was transferred to Scottish side

for an undisclosed fee. He made his official debut for the club in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against Shkupi on 12 July. On 2 August, he scored his first goal for Rangers in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. A week later, he made his league debut against

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. On 20 April 2019, he scored his first league goal for the team in a defeat of Hearts. In October 2019, Katić signed a new four-year deal with the squad. In July 2020, he suffered a severe knee injury, which was diagnosed as an anterior cruciate ligament tear and was ruled out for at least six months. Over a year after the injury, on 24 July 2021, he returned to the pitch. He won his first trophy with the club on 7 March 2021, when they were crowned league champions.

Loan to Hajduk Split

In August 2021, he was sent on a season-long loan to

Zürich

In August 2022, Katić moved to Swiss outfit

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

on a three-year contract. He made his competitive debut for the side in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

game against PSV. A week later, he made his league debut against

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

. On 13 November 2022, he scored his first goal for Zürich in a victory over

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

. In October 2023, Katić extended his deal with the team until June 2026.

Loan to Plymouth Argyle

In January 2025, he was loaned to English club

until the end of the season. On 9 February 2025, Katić played in

1–0 win against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

fourth round. At the time, Plymouth was bottom of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

while Liverpool led the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Katić lost a tooth during the match.

Schalke 04

In July 2025, Katić joined German side

on a contract until June 2028.

International career

After representing

at the under-21 level, Katić made his senior international debut in a friendly game against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on 28 May 2017. However, in April 2024, he decided that he would play for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the future. In May, his request to change sports citizenship from Croatian to Bosnian was approved by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. Later that month, he received his first senior call-up, for friendly games against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He debuted against the former on 3 June.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Rangers *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

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 ...

Hajduk Split *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Schalke 04 website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Katic, Nikola 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Ljubuški Footballers from West Herzegovina Canton Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers Croatian expatriate men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Men's association football central defenders NK Slaven Belupo players Rangers F.C. players HNK Hajduk Split players FC Zürich players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players FC Schalke 04 players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Swiss Super League players English Football League players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in England Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Germany