Kristijan Jakić (born 14 May 1997) 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

defensive midfielder 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. ...

for German club

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Early career and RNK Split

A native of

Runovići Runovići is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. Demographics In 2021, the municipality had 1,968 residents in the following 3 settlements: * Podosoje, population 25 *Runović, population 1706 * Slivno, population 237 In 2011, 99.71 ...

, Jakić started training at the age of seven at the local . Later, he moved to the nearby

Imotski Imotski () is a small town on the northeastern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The town has a generally mild Mediterranean climate which makes it a popular ...

, spending four seasons and qualifying for the Croatian Academy Football League in 2013. However, Jakić moved to the

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split ("Workers' Football Club of Split") commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was fo ...

academy that summer. He debuted for the Croatia U19 team in 2015 before moving to RNK Split senior team in a 1–1 home draw against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, coming as a substitute in the 66th minute for Miloš Vidović.

Istra 1961 and Lokomotiva

In May 2017, following the relegation of RNK Split, Jakić moved to Lokomotiva. After struggling during his first half-season at the club, he requested a loan move to Istra 1961 from club's director of football Božidar Šikić. Jakić spent the second half of the 2017–18 season in

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

, where he regained form by Istra coach Darko Raić-Sudar. He returned to Lokomotiva at the end of the season, where he turned into one of the best players during coach

Goran Tomić Goran Tomić (; born 18 March 1977) is a Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who is currently the manager of Croatian Football League, HNL club NK Istra ...

's tenure at the club.

Dinamo Zagreb

His good performances for Lokomotiva drew attention from Croatian club

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 ...

, who signed him for €1.2 million on 24 July 2020. Jakić was forced to miss the beginning of the

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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

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 ...

. He made his Dinamo debut on 12 September in a 2–1 victory against

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 his

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 ...

debut in a goalless draw against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

on 22 October, Jakić fouled Mark Diemers and caused a penalty, which Dinamo goalkeeper

Dominik Livaković Dominik Livaković (; born 9 January 1995) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Croatia national team. Club career NK Zagreb Livaković became part of NK Zagreb's first team at ...

saved. On 8 November, he scored his first goal for Dinamo Zagreb in a 5–0 victory against Istra 1961. By the end of the first half-season, Jakić had already established himself as the important part of Dinamo Zagreb's starting lineup. On 20 July 2021, in Dinamo Zagreb's Champions League second qualifying round against Omonia, Jakić assisted

Lovro Majer Lovro Majer (; born 17 January 1998) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club VfL Wolfsburg and the Croatia national team. Club career Early career Majer was born in Zagreb in 1998. His father Egon h ...

and scored himself as Dinamo Zagreb won 2–0. Ahead of Dinamo Zagreb's Champions League play-off against

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

on 25 August, Jakić was dropped from the squad, with coach Damir Krznar claiming he had injured his ankle in the 1–0

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

victory over Lokomotiva the weekend before. However, ''

Sportske novosti ''Sportske novosti'' () is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb. The newspaper was established on 9 August 1945 as ''Ilustrirane fiskulturne novine'' weekly newspaper. Several months later, on 10 December 1945, its name was change ...

'' published that Jakić was removed from the squad as a disciplinary measure after he was dissatisfied by the club refusing

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

's offer to buy him. He was unexpectedly named in the starting lineup in the 29 August league derby against

, and scored the opener as Dinamo won 2–0.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 30 August 2021, Jakić officially moved to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club Eintracht Frankfurt on loan with an option to buy at the end of the

. He made his debut on 12 September in a 1–1 draw against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, coming off the bench for

Ajdin Hrustić Ajdin Hrustic (; born 5 July 1996) is an Australian professional association football, soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for club US Salernitana 1919, Salernitana and the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national ...

. He scored his first goal for Eintracht on 12 December in a 5–2 victory against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Despite Eintracht Frankfurt's underwhelming performance in

where they finished eleventh, Jakić helped the club reach the

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

unbeaten, eliminating

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

in the process, where they defeated

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

5–4 on penalties. On 29 May 2022, the transfer was made permanent and Jakić signed a four-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.

FC Augsburg

On 19 January 2024, Jakić moved to

on loan with an option to buy. On 24 May 2024, he signed for the club permanently with a four-year contract.

International career

Jakić received his first call-up to the Croatia national team on 20 September 2021, when coach

Zlatko Dalić Zlatko Dalić (; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian people, Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player. He has been the manager of the Croatia national football ...

called him up for the October World Cup qualifiers 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 ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. He made his debut on 8 October against the former opponent, being replaced in the 84th minute; the match ended in a 3–0 victory for the Croats.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Eintracht Frankfurt *

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 ...

: 2021–22 Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakic, Kristijan 1997 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's international footballers RNK Split players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players NK Istra 1961 players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Eintracht Frankfurt players FC Augsburg players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany UEFA Europa League–winning players