Ante Vukušić (; born 4 June 1991) 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 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

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

club Croatia Zmijavci.

Club career

Vukušić started his career playing at youth level for his hometown club Junak Sinj. He joined

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in 2007, and during his time at their youth academy was regarded as one of the most promising players.

Hajduk Split

In January 2009, he signed a professional -year contract with Hajduk keeping him at the club until summer 2014. He made his debut for the first team in a 5–0 win against

Croatia Sesvete NK Croatia Sesvete was a Croatian football club based in the Sesvete district of the City of Zagreb. Previous club names: NK Sljeme (1957–1988), NK Sesvete (1988–1996), NK Badel Sesvete (1996–1997), NK Sesvete (1997–1998). The club was ...

on 22 April 2009. In the last round of 2008–09 season, he scored his first goal in

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

, a late equalizer against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. In the 2009–10 season, Vukušić established himself as the first choice striker at the club. In 22 league appearances, he scored 6 goals and a further 2 goals in 5 cup appearances. His stature at the club at such a young age impressed many of Europe's top clubs and he was set to make a move away from the Croatian club but the management and he mutually chose for him to remain at the club for the following season. In the 2010–11 season, he scored 14 league goals in 29 appearances, finishing the season as the club's top scorer. He also scored four goals in nine

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

appearances, the most memorable of which was a last minute winner against

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. At the start of the 2011–12 season, under new coach

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

, Vukušić continued as the first choice striker at the club, this time alongside new signing

Ivan Vuković Ivan Vuković ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Иван Вуковић, born 9 February 1987) is a retired Montenegrin football forward who was last played for FK Iskra Danilovgrad. He is best known for his abilities as a striker but can also play as a ...

as the most preferred front duo. He scored his first goal of the 2011–12 Prva HNL only three minutes into the first match against

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

and added his second in a match against

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

. In doing so he injured his toe and was consequentially ruled out for the next four weeks. He ended the season with 12 league goals in 24 appearances and 15 total goals in 29 appearances which made him the top goalscorer at the club for the second year running. The 2012–13 season at Hajduk started with another new coach, but Ante remained the first choice striker and captain at the club, despite his young age. He converted a penalty in Hajduk's 2–0 win over Italian club

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. Since 1 ...

at the San Siro.

Pescara

In August 2012, Vukušić was transferred to the newly promoted

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 ...

club

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

for a reported fee of around €3.8 million. He was initially the first choice striker at the club, but ended up losing his place and managed just one goal in 19 appearances as Pescara were relegated.

Lausanne-Sport (loan)

In February 2014 he moved to Lausanne-Sport on a six-month loan.

Waasland-Beveren (loan)

In August 2014 he moved to

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

on a loan.

Greuther Fürth

He moved to Greuther Fürth on 29 January 2016. On 7 May 2016 he extended his contract until June 2018.

Tosno

On 5 June 2017, he signed a 2-year contract with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

FC Tosno FC Tosno () was a professional Russian football club based in Tosno, Leningrad Oblast. Founded in 2013, Tosno won promotion to the Russian Premier League on 6 May 2017 after securing second place in the Russian National Football League. The foll ...

. Three weeks later, he underwent a surgery on his lungs, due to years-long medical problems.

Olimpia Grudziądz

On 7 March 2018, he signed with the Polish club

Olimpia Grudziądz Olimpia Grudziądz is a Polish football club from Grudziądz. The club was formed on 30 June 1923. Currently, Olimpia plays in the II liga, following promotion in the 2022–23 season. On 1 March 2022, thanks to defeating Wisła Kraków in a ...

. In the summer of 2018 he left Olimpia Grudziądz.

Krško

After leaving Grudziądz, he signed with

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

club

NK Krško NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys, a French mining multinational (Euronext ticker:NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a Swedish department store * Northrup-King Seed Company, U.S. *Spirit Airlines, U.S. (IATA:NK) * NK.pl, a Polish social network (2006–202 ...

, where he scored 4 goals in 27 appearances during the 2018–19 season.

FCSB

On 28 January 2021, it was announced that Vukušić signed with Romanian club

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...

International career

In May 2011, Vukušić was first called up to the Croatian senior team by manager

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

for the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

match against

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, but was later moved to the under-21 squad for their opening match in the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2011 and 2012 to decide the qualifiers for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Israel. The draw for ...

s, also against Georgia. On 15 August 2012, he made his debut for the senior team under manager

Igor Štimac Igor Štimac (; born 6 September 1967) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. In his playing career, Štimac had three spells with Hajduk Split and also played for Cádiz in Spain, and for Derby County and West Ham Un ...

as a second-half substitute in a 4–2 defeat against

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Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Hajduk Split *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2009–10 Individual *

top scorer: 2019–20 *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

Player of the Week:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

(Round 8)

References

External links