Rade Krunić (; born 7 October 1993) 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 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

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 ...

club

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 ...

and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Krunić started his professional career at Sutjeska Foča, before joining Donji Srem in 2013. In 2014, he moved to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

, who loaned him back to Donji Srem later that year. He switched to

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

in 2015. Later that year, Krunić signed with

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 ...

. In 2019, he was transferred to Milan. A former youth international for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Krunić made his senior international debut in 2016, earning over 20

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since.

Club career

Early career

Krunić came through youth setup of his hometown club Sutjeska Foča, which he joined in 2006. He made his professional debut in 2011 at the age of 17. On 6 November, he scored his first professional goal against

Modriča Modriča ( sr-cyrl, Модрича) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the town has a population of 10,137 inhabitants, while the municipality has a population of 25,72 ...

, which secured the victory for his team. In January 2013, he signed with Serbian side Donji Srem. In the summer of 2014, Krunić moved to Italian outfit

, who sent him back on a six-month loan to Donji Srem. In January 2015, he switched to

Empoli

In July, Krunić joined

on a three-year deal. He made his official debut for the team against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on 4 October. On 24 October, he scored his first goal for Empoli in a triumph over

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 October 2017, he extended his contract until June 2021. Krunić was an important piece in Empoli's conquest of

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 ...

title, his first trophy with the club, which was sealed on 28 April 2018 and earned them promotion to

just one season after being relegated. He had an impact of 5 goals and 10 assists. On 1 December, he played his 100th game for the side against

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

and managed to score a goal.

Milan

In July 2019, Krunić was transferred to

for an undisclosed fee, speculated to be in the region of €8 million.

2019–20 season

He made his competitive debut for the team on 29 September in a loss to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

. On 3 November, he started his first game for Milan against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. In February 2020, he suffered a foot injury, which was diagnosed as

broken foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

and was ruled out for at least a month. He returned to the pitch on 4 July, over four months after the injury.

2020–21 season

Krunić made his season debut on 21 September 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 22 October, he scored his first goal for Milan in

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 ...

game against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. Four months later, he scored his first league goal.

2021–22 season

Krunić played his first game of the campaign in a defeat of

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

on 23 August 2021. On 19 October, he debuted in

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

away at

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. He won his first title with the club on 22 May 2022, when they were crowned league champions after 11 years.

2022–23 season

Krunić appeared in his first game of the season against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

on 13 August 2022. In September, he signed a new three-year deal with Milan. He appeared in his 100th match for the team against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

on 25 October. On 2 November, he scored his first

goal in a victory over Red Bull Salzburg.

International career

Krunić was a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team under coach

Vlado Jagodić Vlado Jagodić (; born 22 March 1964) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. Club career Born in Gradiška, SFR Yugoslavia, Jagodić played with lower-league Bosnian clubs Zadrugar Kočićevo, Lijevče Nova Topola, Slog ...

. In November 2015, he received his first senior call-up, for

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs The play-offs of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament decided the final four teams which qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 final tournament. Eight teams, each of which finished third in their qualifying group were paired and contested in four ti ...

against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, but had to wait until 3 June 2016 to make his debut in 2016 Kirin Cup game against

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. On 23 March 2019, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, Krunić scored his first senior international goal. Four years later, on 23 March 2023, Krunić scored a brace in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Iceland.

Personal life

Krunić married his long-time girlfriend Ivana in May 2022.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Krunić goal.''

Honours

Empoli *

: 2017–18 Milan *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krunic, Rade 1993 births Living people People from Foča Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers Association football midfielders FK Sutjeska Foča players FK Donji Srem players Hellas Verona F.C. players FK Borac Čačak players Empoli F.C. players A.C. Milan players First League of the Republika Srpska players Serbian SuperLiga players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate footballers in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Italy Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Italy