Izet Hajrović (; born 4 August 1991) 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 ...

who plays as a winger for Super League Greece club

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Hajrović started his professional career at

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

, before joining

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in 2014. Later that year, he switched to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

, who loaned him to

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eusta ...

in 2015. Three years later, Hajrović signed 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 ...

. He moved to Aris in 2021. A former Swiss youth international, Hajrović even made his senior international debut for Switzerland, only to switch his allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013, earning over 20

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

since. He represented the nation at their first major championship, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Hajrović started playing football at local clubs, before joining

' youth academy in 2000. He made his professional debut against Luzern on 3 October 2009 at the age of 18. On 19 September 2010, he scored a brace, which were his first professional goals. He scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on 17 September 2011.

Galatasaray

In January 2014, Hajrović was transferred to Turkish outfit

for a fee of €3.5 million. He made his official debut for the team on 2 February against

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In t ...

. On 5 February, he scored his first goal for Galatasaray in

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

game against

Tokatspor Tokatspor is a Turkish sports club in Tokat. The club was founded in 1969 and they play at the Gaziosmanpaşa Stadium, which has a capacity of 5,762. Their most notable accomplishment was a Turkish Cup stay group stage in 2008–09 season. Thei ...

. Hajrović 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 competi ...

against

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on 26 February. He won his first trophy with the club on 7 May, by beating

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

final. After filing a complaint to FIFA that he received no payments from Galatasaray, he was given the right to move on free transfer elsewhere.

Werder Bremen

In July, Hajrović signed a four-year contract with German side

. He made his competitive debut for the club in

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 ...

match against

FV Illertissen FV Illertissen is a German association football club from the town of Illertissen, Bavaria and was established in 1921. Despite its location in Bavaria the club had never played in the league system of its home state but instead preferred to p ...

on 17 August and managed to score a goal. A week later, he made his league debut against Hertha BSC. On 26 April 2015, he scored his first league goal against Paderborn 07. In August, Hajrović was sent on a season-long loan to Spanish outfit

. Upon returning from loan spell, he secured first-team spot at Werder Bremen. In December 2016, he suffered a severe knee injury, which was diagnosed as anterior cruciate ligament tear and was ruled out for at least six months. He returned to the pitch on 16 September 2017, over nine months after the injury.

Dinamo Zagreb

In January 2018, Hajrović moved to Croatian side

on a deal until June 2019. He debuted officially for the team on 10 February against Osijek. On 4 April, he scored his first goal for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatian Cup tie against Rijeka. He won his first title with the club on 13 May, when they were crowned league champions. On 2 February 2019, he scored a brace against Rudeš, his first league goals for Dinamo Zagreb. In July, he extended his contract until June 2021.

Aris

In June 2021, Hajrović joined Greek outfit

on a three-year deal. He debuted competitively for the club in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier against

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

on 22 July. Seven weeks later, he made his league debut against OFI.

International career

After representing Switzerland at various youth levels, Hajrović made his senior international debut in a friendly game against

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on 14 November 2012. However, in June 2013, he decided that he would play for

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 ...

in the future. In August, his request to change sports citizenship from Swiss to Bosnian was approved by FIFA. Later that month, he received his first senior call-up, for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

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 ...

, home and away. He debuted in the home game on 6 September. On 10 September, in the away game, Hajrović scored his first senior international goal, which secured the victory for his team. In June 2014, Hajrović was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup, country's first major competition. He made his tournament debut in the opening group match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 15 June.

Personal life

Hajrović's younger brother Sead is also a professional footballer. They played together in Grasshoppers, before Sead joined Arsenal's youth academy in July 2009. He married his long-time girlfriend Lejla in May 2014. Hajrović is a practising Muslim; along with international teammates Ibrahim Šehić,

Muhamed Bešić Muhamed Bešić (; born 10 September 1992) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Ferencváros and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Bešić started his professional caree ...

Armin Hodžić Armin Hodžić (; born 17 November 1994) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bosnian Premier League club Željezničar. Hodžić started his professional career at Željezničar, before joining Dinamo Zagreb in 2014 ...

Sead Kolašinac Sead Kolašinac (; born 20 June 1993) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Kolašinac started his professional career at Schalke 04, playing fir ...

, Edin Višća and Ervin Zukanović he visited a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The city is k ...

during national team concentration.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Grasshoppers * Swiss Cup:

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 ...

Galatasaray *

: 2013–14 Dinamo Zagreb *

Croatian First 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 ...

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 * Croatian Cup: 2017–18, 2020–21 *

Croatian Super Cup 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 t ...

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References

External links