Alen Halilović (; born 18 June 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 ...

who plays as an

attacking 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 Croatian SuperSport HNL club Rijeka. As the Prva HNL's youngest ever goalscorer (until May 2021) and the youngest ever debutant for the Croatian national team, he was considered to be one of the most promising young talents of European football. On 27 March 2014,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

reached an agreement with

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 ...

for a five-year transfer to the club. He made one appearance for the senior team (in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

), spending most of the season with the B-team. He then had a season-long loan to

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sport ...

, before signing for Hamburg in July 2016. He spent much of the next two seasons on loan to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

before joining

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 seaso ...

. Again, he played little for his parent club, instead having loan spells with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

and

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

. After his Milan contract was cancelled in October 2020, he spent what remained of the season with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

On 27 September 2012, he made his debut for the first team in the " Eternal derby" win over Hajduk Split (3–1), when he replaced

Sammir Jorge Sammir Cruz Campos (born 23 April 1987), commonly known as Sammir, is a Brazilian-Croatian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in Brazil, Sammir became a naturalized Croatian citizen and has been ca ...

for the final ten minutes of the match. This made him the youngest debutant in the history of Dinamo Zagreb, at the age of 16 years and 101 days. In the next round match against Slaven Belupo, he again came off the bench and scored the final goal in a 4–1 victory. This made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the league, at the age of 16 years and 112 days – breaking the record set in November 2010 by his teammate,

Mateo Kovačić Mateo Kovačić (; born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Croatia national team. He is usually deployed in a central or box-to-box role, but can play in deeper po ...

. The record would last until 22 May 2021, when Lovro Zvonarek broke it by scoring his first goal aged 16 years and 14 days. In November 2012, Halilović scored his second league goal for Dinamo in a 5–0 win against

NK Zadar Nogometni klub Zadar ( en, Football Club Zadar), commonly referred to as NK Zadar or simply Zadar, was a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast, best known for playing in the top flight of Croatian football for alm ...

, from outside of the box on an assist provided by Kovačić. In his first professional season with Dinamo, he also managed to participate 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 competi ...

. On 24 October 2012, he made his European debut in the 90th minute of the encounter against the French team

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Maksimir Stadium Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 league ...

, coming on as a substitute for Kovačić. Thus he became the club's youngest player ever to feature in a Champions League match, and second youngest player in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona

On 27 March 2014,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

reached an agreement with

for Halilović to join Barcelona in July 2014 at the start of the summer transfer window. He signed a five-year contract for an initial amount of €2.2 million, set to increase if he secures a spot on the first team, and was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División. On 2 April 2014, FIFA announced that Barcelona would be banned from buying players until summer 2015 after illegally signing underaged players, putting the move in doubt. On 23 April 2014, FC Barcelona's transfer ban was suspended pending an appeal, allowing the transfer to go ahead for the time being. On 2 May 2014, Halilović signed for Barcelona on a five-year contract for €2.2 million. Halilović made his first appearance for Barcelona's senior team on 15 January 2015, replacing Adama Traoré for the last 28 minutes of a 4–0 away win against

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

in the last 16 of the

Loan to Sporting Gijón

On 21 August 2015, he was loaned to fellow league team

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

, in a

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 ...

-long deal. On 29 August, Halilović made his

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' ...

debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Carlos Carmona in a 0–0 away draw against Real Sociedad. His first goal in the category came on 3 October, opening a 2–1 win away to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

, and on 1 November he netted the only goal of a win against Málaga CF at

El Molinón Estadio El Molinón (), officially Estadio Municipal El Molinón-Enrique Castro "Quini", is an association football stadium in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Real Sporting de Gijón. With a capacity of 29,029 seats, El ...

. Halilović was a half-time substitute for

Nacho Cases Ignacio 'Nacho' Cases Mora (born 22 December 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. He spent most of his career with Sporting de Gijón, appearing in 183 competitive games over the course of four La Liga se ...

on 15 December in the national cup last-32 second leg and scored twice – one a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

– to ensure a 3–3 home draw against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

, who advanced 5–3 on aggregate.

Hamburger SV

On 19 July 2016, it was announced that Halilović would join

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

for €5.5 million, with a buy-back clause for Barcelona worth €10 million. Two days later the move was confirmed, with Halilović signing a four-year deal. Halilović scored his first goal for the club on his debut in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

cup match against

FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Oberliga champions ZSG ...

on 22 August 2016. This was the only goal of the match and helped Hamburg to the next round. He had to wait until 10 September to make his league debut, however, which was in the second league game of the season against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

Loan to Las Palmas

In January 2017, Halilović joined Las Palmas for 18 months in a loan deal, with an option for Las Palmas to buy him. In the first game of the 2017/18 season for Las Palmas, playing against Valencia, Halilović received a straight red card for a tackle on José Gayá, in the 33rd minute.

AC Milan

On 3 July 2018, Alen Halilović joined

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 Cop ...

club

on a free transfer. He signed a contract until 30 June 2021.

Loan to Standard Liège

On 31 January 2019, Halilović joined

on loan with an option to buy until 30 June 2020.

Loan to SC Heerenveen

Starting September 2019, Halilović's loan to Standard Liége got cancelled and he went on loan to the Dutch team

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

for the duration of a year. Following the abandonment of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

on 24 April 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Halilović returned to Milan. On 5 October, Milan announced they terminated his contract by mutual consent.

Birmingham City

On 23 November 2020, Halilović joined EFL Championship club

as a free agent; he signed until the end of the season. After a lengthy wait for international clearance, he made his Birmingham debut as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 win away to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on 5 December. He scored his first and only goal for Birmingham on 27 February 2021 with "a superb left-footed curler from " to complete a 2–1 win over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. In celebration, he took off his shirt to reveal a caricature depicting Serbian musician

Đorđe Balašević Đorđe Balašević ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Балашевић; 11 May 1953 – 19 February 2021) was a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter, writer, poet and director. He began his career in the late 1970s as a member of the band Rani Mraz, ...

, who had died eight days earlier. He made 17 league appearances, and was offered terms for the coming season, but had not signed by the time his contract expired.

Reading

Halilović signed a one-year deal with another Championship club,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, on 27 August 2021. On 20 May 2022, Reading confirmed that Halilović would leave the club at the end of his contract with the club.

Rijeka

On 6 July 2022 Halilović officially signed for the Croatian SuperSport HNL club Rijeka on a free transfer.

International career

Halilović was eligible to play for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

on international level, opting for the former and representing them at various youth levels. In March 2013, he was a member of Croatia U17 that qualified for the European Under-17 Championship in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. On 10 June 2013, Halilović made his debut for the senior team against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

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 ...

as a 50th-minute substitute for

Ivan Strinić Ivan Strinić (; born 17 July 1987) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a left-back. Strinić spent his professional career playing in a number of clubs from Croatian, Ukrainian and Italian top flight, including Hajduk Split, Napoli a ...

. At age 16, he became the youngest debutant in the history of Croatia. In 2016, ahead of

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, Halilović was left out of the 23-man squad for the tournament, reportedly taking it personally. He did not make an appearance for the national team until June 2019, when he played 30 minutes in a friendly against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. Later that month, he captained

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

at Under-21 Euro 2019. After a heavy 4–1 loss to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, he was left on the bench for the remaining matches against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

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 ...

, as Croatia failed to qualify for the knockout stage.

Personal life

His father, Sejad Halilović, is a former Bosnian and Croatian international who also played for Dinamo Zagreb. The entire family relocated to Spain when he was signed by

, with his two younger brothers, Dino and Damir, also being signed to play for one of the club's youth teams. He is a supporter of Bosnian club FK Sarajevo.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

:Source: Dinamo Zagreb * Prva HNL:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

'', '' 2013–14 *

Croatian Supercup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the tw ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Barcelona *

: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halilovic, Alen 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Dubrovnik Croatian people of Bosniak descent Association football midfielders Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Sporting de Gijón players Hamburger SV players UD Las Palmas players A.C. Milan players Standard Liège players SC Heerenveen players Birmingham City F.C. players Reading F.C. players HNK Rijeka players Croatian Football League players Segunda División players La Liga players Bundesliga players Serie A players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England