Zvonimir Šarlija (born 29 August 1996) is a Croatian 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 defender for

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

club

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 ...

Career

Born in Koprivnica, Zvonimir Šarlija started practicing football at the local club

NK Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

, where his father used to play and captain the senior team. As per club practice, he was moved between Slaven and its feeder side

NK Koprivnica NK Koprivnica is a Croatian football club based in the town of Koprivnica. The team shares a stadium with top-flight team NK Slaven Belupo. From the season 2007–08 they are playing continuously in the Treća HNL. Current Squad Honour ...

. At the age of 18, he captained the club's fourth-tier reserve side, where he scored 2 goals in 22 matches, along with the U-19 side. Subsequently, he was loaned out by his club, first in 2015 to its third-tier feeder

, scoring one goal in twenty appearances, then to second-tier

NK Solin NK Solin is a Croatian football club based in the town of Solin, near Split, playing in the 2. HNL, the Croatian second division. History Arguably the team's greatest success was winning the 1980–81 Croatian league, which earned Solin promot ...

. Back at

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

in 2017, Šarlija gathered 49 caps for the senior side in all competitions. On 29 June 2019,

announced that Šarlija had moved to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, with CSKA confirming the season-long loan deal, with the first option to buy, on 1 July. On 18 January 2020, CSKA Moscow confirmed that their loan deal with Šarlija had ended, and that he'd joined Kasımpaşa on loan for the remainder of the 2019/20 season with Kasımpaşa confining they had an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season. On 31 August 2020, it was announced that Šarlija signed for Turkish club Ankaragücü. The reported fee was €350.000 . On 30 July 2021, he signed a two-year contract with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. In the summer of 2023, Šarlija officially joined

on a four-year contract.

Personal life

Šarlija's father Milan, originally from Jasenice near

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

captained

, and later became the club's director for a while. His younger brother Lovro and cousin Ante are also former

players, while his brother Luka is the club's spokesman. Šarlija is a lifelong

fan, having a tattoo of Ivica Hlevnjak-Bukle's legendary statement "Emocije su zajebane.".

Career statistics

Honours

Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarlija, Zvonimir 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Koprivnica Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers NK Slaven Belupo players NK Solin players PFC CSKA Moscow players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers MKE Ankaragücü footballers Panathinaikos F.C. players HNK Hajduk Split players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Russian Premier League players Süper Lig players Super League Greece players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece