Darijan Bojanić (; born 28 December 1994) is a Swedish 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

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

club

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

Early life

His parents fled from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

during the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

while his mother was pregnant with him. Bojanić was born in

Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and grew up in

Gislaved Gislaved () is the seat and most populous locality of Gislaved Municipality. With a population of 10,269 at the 2020 census, it is the 7th largest locality in Jönköping County. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Gislaved: * Gis ...

. His mother is of

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

descent, while his father is ethnically

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. Bojanić is fluent in the Bosnian language.

Club career

Östers IF

In 2010, after debuting in the senior team at local club Gislaveds IS at age 16, Bojanić moved to

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in Association football, football. For the 2025 Allsvenskan, 2025 season the club is back in the top tier, Allsve ...

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

, Sweden's second tier. Around that time, he also attracted interest from several European clubs, reportedly

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

. In 2012, Bojanić made 12 appearances as Öster won Superettan and got promoted to the first division. In 2013, Bojanić made his debut in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

, aged 18. Midway through the season, after making 14 appearances for Öster, he transferred to

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

IFK Göteborg

On 2 August 2013, Bojanić signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with IFK Göteborg, but failed to make an impact at the club. He reportedly had disciplinary issues during his stay at IFK Göteborg and Bojanić later admitted that he once fell asleep during a team meeting. In total, Bojanić would only make 10 league appearances for the side.

Helsingborgs IF

On 15 July 2014, Bojanić moved to

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

. He reunited with his former coach from Öster, Roar Hansen, and soon established himself as a starting player at the club. Bojanić fell out of favour with manager

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...

in 2016 after the player had criticised his coach in the media. Helsingborg got relegated to Superettan the same year. In 2017, he went on loan to

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Östersund, Sweden, that plays in the Swedish second tier, S ...

in Allsvenskan, but failed to make an impact, only making four league appearances for the side. He won the 2016–17 Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup, with Östersund. In 2018, Bojanić played 29 games, scored six goals and provided 13 assists, as Helsingborg won a promotion to Allsvenskan. At the end of the season, he was voted as Superettan Player of the Year.

Hammarby IF

2019

On 26 November 2018, Bojanić moved on a free transfer to

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. He played 29 games in the 2019 season, scoring four goals and providing 11 assists, the most in the league, as Hammarby finished third in the table after eight straight wins at the end of the campaign. He vas voted as Allsvenskan Player of the Month in October, and Hammarby Player of the Season by the fans at the end of the year.

2020

In January 2020, Bojanić signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Hammarby. The season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with Bojanić being in poor form and plagued by injuries, only making 23 appearances as his side disappointedly finished 8th in the table. Although, he scored from a free-kick in the first round of the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United i ...

against Puskás Akadémia (in a 3–0 win), before the club was eliminated from the tournament in the second round against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

(in a 0–3 loss).

2021

On 30 May 2021, Bojanić won the 2020–21 Svenska Cupen with Hammarby, through a 5–4 win on penalties (0–0 after full-time) against

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

in the final. He featured in all six games as the side reached the play-off round of the

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Rom ...

, after eliminating

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

(4–1 on aggregate) and

FK Čukarički Fudbalski klub Čukarički () is a Serbian professional football club from Belgrade, more precisely from the Čukarica municipality, that currently plays in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of Serbian football. Founded in 1926, the club spe ...

(6–4 on aggregate), where the club was knocked out by

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

(4–4 on aggregate) after a penalty shoot-out, in which Bojanić missed his attempt. On 23 September 2021, Bojanić was appointed as the new club captain of Hammarby by head coach Miloš Milojević, replacing Jeppe Andersen. On 2 April 2022, Bojanić was demoted to vice-captain by new head coach Martí Cifuentes, being replaced by Richard Magyar.

2022

Bojanić featured in the final of the 2021–22 Svenska Cupen, in which Hammarby lost by 4–5 on penalties to

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

after the game ended in a 0–0 draw. During the summer, he reportedly attracted interest from

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

in the

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 ...

, but their bid was rejected. In the league, Bojanić scored four goals in 29 appearances, often captaining his side, that ultimately finished 3rd in the Allsvenskan table. On 10 November 2022, shortly after the final game of the season, Hammarby accepted a bid from

club

for his transfer, subject to the player's personal agreement.

Ulsan Hyundai

On 14 November 2022, Ulsan Hyundai confirmed that they had reached an agreement for his transfer, effective in January 2023.

International career

Between 2011 and 2014, Bojanić won several caps for both the Swedish U17 and U19 teams. Bojanić was called up to the Swedish senior squad for the training tour in early 2020. He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly win against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

on 9 January 2020. Three days later, on 12 January, he provided the assist to

Simon Hedlund Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan club Elfsborg. Hedlund joined IF Elfsborg at the age of 16 and debuted in the Allsvenskan in 2012. In 2016, he moved to U ...

as Sweden won 1–0 against

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Manager

Janne Andersson Jan Olof "Janne" Andersson (; born 29 September 1962) is a Swedish former professional football manager and player. From 2004 to 2009, Andersson coached Halmstads BK in the Swedish top tier league. In 2010, he managed Örgryte in the second tier ...

praised him as one of the best Swedish players during the tour. In 2021, Bojanić confirmed that he was contemplating switching his allegiance to

, where his family originally is from, pending a call-up and an application for dual citizenship.

Style of play

As a

deep-lying playmaker In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Bojanić is known for his strong passing game and technique. He is also a set piece-specialist.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Gislaveds IS * Division 3 Sydvästra Götaland:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Östers IF *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Östersunds FK *

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

: 2016–17 Helsingborgs IF * Superettan:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Hammarby IF * Svenska Cupen:

2020–21 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 ...

Ulsan Hyundai *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2019 *

Player of the Year: 2018 *

top assist provider:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bojanic, Darijan 1994 births Living people Footballers from Växjö Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Swedish people of Croatian descent Swedish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Östers IF players IFK Göteborg players Helsingborgs IF players Östersunds FK players Hammarby Fotboll players Ulsan HD FC players Men's association football midfielders Allsvenskan players Superettan players Division 3 (Swedish football) players K League 1 players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Swedish expatriate sportspeople in South Korea 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Sweden men's international footballers