Rene Krhin (born 21 May 1990) is a Slovenian 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 ...

Club career

Internazionale

Born in

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 ...

, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Slovenia), Krhin progressed through youth ranks at

before signing for

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

alongside fellow Maribor player

Vid Belec Vid Belec (; born 6 June 1990) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club APOEL and the Slovenia national team. Club career Internazionale Signed by Internazionale along with Rene Krhin at ...

in January 2007. At the age of 16 as a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

player, he started to play for Internazionale at Allievi Nazionali (U17) team. After spending two seasons at Allievi Nazionali (U17) team, Krhin was called up by manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

to the Inter first team for the pre-season tour of the United States in July 2009, and subsequently played in several friendlies. For the 2009–10 competitive season, he was called up to the match squads, but did not make the starting eleven or the bench for the first three games, against

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in the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, and

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

. He subsequently made his official debut for Inter against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in the third round of the Serie A, coming on as a substitute for

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he sta ...

. After the match, Krhin described his Inter Milan debut as a “dream come true”. On 1 November 2009, he made his first league start in a 2–0 win over

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. In November 2009, he signed a reported five-year contract, keeping him until 2014. Although he spent the most of the season on the substitute bench for the rest of the 2009–10 season, Krhin finished the season, making five appearances.

Bologna

On 27 July 2010, he moved to fellow Serie A side

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 ...

in a co-ownership deal for €2 million. However, at the start of the 2010–11 season, Krhin suffered a setback when he was plagued by injuries. It wasn't until on 14 November 2010 when Krhin made his debut, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–0 win over

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. This was followed up by playing the whole game on 21 November 2010, in a 4–1 loss against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In his first season at the club, Krhin made five appearances in his first season. Krhin made his first appearance for the side in the 2011–12 season, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against

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 ...

in the opening game of the season. However, Krhin's first team opportunities at Bologna continued to be limited. On 11 March 2012, he scored his first goal in Serie A during the match against

, which was won by Bologna 3–1. Krhin ended his season at Bologna after suffering a knee injury, in a 3–1 loss against Palermo on 1 April 2012. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Krhin went on to make nine appearances and scoring once in all competitions. In the 2012–13 season, Krhin continued to rehabilitate from his knee injury at the start of the season. It wasn't until on 28 October 2012 when he made his return from injury, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 3–1 loss against his former club, Inter Milan. Since his return, Krhin began to have a handful of first team football at Bologna. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Krhin went on to make 22 appearances in all competitions. In the 2013–14 season, Krhin featured for the first two matches to the start of the season before suffering an injury. Although he returned to the first team from injury, he continued to play out in different midfield positions. But he once played in central–defence, in a 0–0 draw against

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

on 4 November 2013. Although he suffered setback of suspension and injury, the club were relegated from Serie A. Despite this, Krhin went on to make 28 appearances in all competitions.

Back to Internazionale

Krhin was re-signed by Inter Milan from Bologna in June 2014 for €1.2 million on a contract until 30 June 2016. Having started the season on the substitute bench, Krhin finally re-debuted for the club, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win over

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 29 October 2014. He then started the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against Qarabağ in the sixth matchday of the UEFA Europa League group stage.

Loan to Córdoba

On 30 January 2015, after making only three league appearances for the ''Nerazzurri'' during the first part of the season, Krhin joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side Córdoba on loan until the end of the season. Krhin made his Córdoba debut, starting the whole game in the central midfield position, in a 3–0 loss against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

on 14 February 2015. Although his time were marred by suspension for breaching the club's curfew and injury, Krhin quickly became a first team player there, being featured in the midfield position and went on to make 14 appearances for the side.

Granada

On 23 July 2015, Krhin moved to fellow La Liga team

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, after agreeing to a four-year deal. Krhin made his Granada debut, starting the whole game in the defensive midfield, in a 2–1 win over

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

on 30 August 2015. Since making his debut for Granada, Krhin quickly became a first team player there, being featured in the midfield position. After suffering an injury as the 2015–16 season progressed, Krhin returned to the first team, although his playing time was reduced to substitute bench. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Krhin finished his first season, making 25 appearances in all competitions. The 2016–17 season, however, restricted Krhin to twelve appearances, due to injuries, which has marred most of the season. Despite this, Krhin returned to the first team on 16 April 2017, captaining the side and played 74 minutes, in a 3–0 loss against

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), an English teaching certificate * Celta (train), an international train service connecting Vigo and Port ...

. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Krhin were among players to be departing from Granada following their relegation in La Liga. It came after when he's no longer in the club's first team plan ahead of the 2017–18 season.

Loan to Nantes

On 26 August 2017, Krhin agreed a loan transfer to French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. He made his team debut on 24 September 2017 in an away tie against

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, which Nantes won 2–1. On 12 June 2018, Nantes exercised the purchase option on Krhin.

Castellón

On 10 February 2021, he signed with Spanish side Castellón as a free agent, on a deal until the end of the season.

International career

Youth career

Krhin has represented Slovenia at under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels. He captained the under-19 team during the U19 European Championship qualifiers, but did not appear at the final tournament due to club commitments. Krhin was called up for the under-21 team for the first time in February 2011. He made his Slovenia U21 debut in a 1–1 draw against Croatia U21 on 9 February 2011. He went on to make seven appearances for Slovenia U21.

Senior career

Krhin made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut in a friendly on 5 September 2009, a 2–1 loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, coming on as a second-half substitute. He is one of the youngest debutants for the Slovenian national team, having been capped for the first time at the age of 19 years, 3 months and 15 days. Ahead of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa, Krhin was among contenders to be included in the 23 men squad for Slovenia. Initially included in the 30 men squad, Krhin made the cut after manager

Matjaž Kek Matjaž Kek (born 9 September 1961) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Slovenia national team. Playing career Kek started his career at his home club NK Maribor, before moving to another Mar ...

named the final squad. However, Krhin never made appearance throughout the campaign, as he appeared three times as an unused substitute. After a year away from the senior national team, Krhin was called up again on 30 September 2011 and made his first appearance on 11 October 2011, in a 1–0 win over

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. Krhin scored his first international goal on 7 June 2013 in a World Cup qualifying match against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Three years later, on 4 September 2016, Khrin scored again, in a 2–2 draw against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

International goals

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

Honours

Internazionale *

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 ...

: 2009–10 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...