Žan Celar (born 14 March 1999) is a Slovenian

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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

and the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Celar made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut for

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

on 11 March 2019 in a game against

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 River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

, as an 86th-minute substitute for

Patrik Schick Patrik Schick (born 24 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team. Born in Prague, Schick began his career with local club Sparta Prague, rising throu ...

. On 10 July 2019, Celar joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie 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 season. It had b ...

club

Cittadella Cittadella () is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around . There are fo ...

on loan until January 2020. On 30 January 2020, he moved on loan to

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. After scoring two goals in eleven appearances during the

2019–20 Serie B The 2019–20 Serie B (known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons) was the 88th season since its establishment in 1929. The 20-team format returned after 16 years, the last time being in the 2002–03 season. The season was scheduled to run from ...

season, his loan was extended for another season in August 2020. In the summer of 2021, Celar joined

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

on a contract until 2025, joining his countryman

Sandi Lovrić Sandi Lovrić (born 28 March 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Udinese and the Slovenia national team. After playing for Austria at all youth levels, he decided to represent Slovenia at senior level. ...

. He was given the number 19 jersey. In his first season with the club, Celar won the

2021–22 Swiss Cup The 2021–22 Swiss Cup was the 97th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 13 August 2021 with the first games of Round 1. The final was held on 15 May 2022 at Wankdorf Stadium, Bern. Lugano defeated la ...

, and also scored in the final against St. Gallen as Lugano won 4–1. Overall, he scored 40 goals in 95 appearances in the Swiss Super League over the course of three seasons, and was also the league's top scorer in the 2023–24 season.

Queens Park Rangers

On 19 July 2024, Celar transferred to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 10 August in a 3–1 loss against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. On 23 November 2024, having still yet to score for the club, Celar missed a penalty in a 1–1 draw with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Having retained the support of manager

Martí Cifuentes Martí Cifuentes Corvillo (, ; born 7 July 1982) is a Spanish football coach who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers. Early life Born in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Cifuentes only played amateur foot ...

following the miss, he scored twice in the following match as QPR secured their second league win of the season.

International career

Between 2014 and 2021, Celar played for all Slovenian youth teams from under-16 to under-21, making 46 appearances for all teams combined and scoring 17 goals. On 14 November 2021, Celar debuted for the senior team in a World Cup qualifying match against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Lugano *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

: 2021–22 Individual *

top scorer: 2023–24

References

External links

*
Žan Celar
at NZS {{DEFAULTSORT:Celar, Zan 1999 births Living people Footballers from Kranj Slovenian men's footballers 21st-century Slovenian sportsmen Slovenian expatriate men's footballers Slovenia men's youth international footballers Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers Slovenia men's international footballers Men's association football forwards NK Maribor players AS Roma players AS Cittadella players US Cremonese players FC Lugano players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Serie A players Serie B players Swiss Super League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2024 players Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England