Matej Delač (; born 20 August 1992) is a Croatian professional

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who plays as a

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for

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club

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Club career

Inter Zaprešić

A product of Inter Zaprešić youth academy, Delač started to impress very early on and after only a few appearances for Croatia U-15 he attracted attention from bigger clubs across Europe. During summer 2008, Delač went on trial at Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Benfica and came very close to joining them, but the two clubs couldn't agree terms so he stayed at Zaprešić. He had his professional debut for NK Inter Zaprešić in the 2008–09 season on 22 February 2009 against NK Zagreb, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the Croatian first division (at 16 years and 186 days of age). He impressed football pundits in his debut by miraculously saving a penalty from Davor Vugrinec in the 85th minute, contributing to Inter's 1–0 victory and becoming man of the match. Delač continued with good performances and finished the 2008-09 season with 15 appearances, as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.

Chelsea

On 11 September 2009, two days after

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

's defeat at

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, Croatian news reports revealed that Delač had stayed in London for a medical examination and was on the verge of signing a pre-contract with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea. Reports claimed that Chelsea scouts had been following Delač's performances in the Croatian first division for months and that their Director of Football Frank Arnesen previously went to Zagreb to agree terms of the transfer. It was announced at a press conference held by Inter on 17 September 2009 that Delač had indeed penned a five-year contract with Chelsea which will come into effect in the January 2011 transfer window. In the meantime, Delač will continue playing at Inter, his wages will be paid by Chelsea, and he is also expected to participate in training at Chelsea's training ground whenever his

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obligations allow.

Loan to Vitesse

On 24 August 2010, Delač joined Chelsea's feeder club Vitesse on loan for the 2010–11 campaign. However, after being deployed as a back-up to Eloy Room and appearing on the bench for the majority of the campaign, Delač returned to Chelsea without making a single appearance for the Dutch side.

Loan to Dynamo České Budějovice

On 13 September 2011, Dynamo České Budějovice chairman Karel Poborský confirmed that Delač would join the club on loan for the rest of the season. However, on 4 January 2012, Delač was recalled by Chelsea after just making one appearance in a 4–0 league defeat against Viktoria Plzeň.

Loan to Vitória de Guimarães

On 17 July 2012, Delač joined Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães on a season-long loan along with Chelsea team-mate Milan Lalkovič. However, after six months with the club, Delač had failed to make a first-team league appearance and therefore returned to Chelsea in January 2013. However, he made one appearance in an early round of the Portuguese Cup, which Vitória eventually won, making him a Cup winner.

Return to Inter Zaprešić

On 10 January 2013, Delač returned to boyhood club Inter Zaprešić on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 campaign. On 15 February 2013, Delač made his Inter Zaprešić return in their 1–0 home defeat against

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. Delač went onto feature thirteen more times for the Croatian side in their unsuccessful relegation fight before returning to Chelsea.

Loan to Vojvodina

In July 2013, Delač joined

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n side

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

on a season-long loan. On 25 July 2013, Delač made his Vojvodina debut 3–1 victory against Hungarian side Honvéd in a

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qualifying tie. On 11 August 2013, Delač made his league debut for the Serbian side in their 0–0 draw with Donji Srem. Having established himself as a first choice keeper, Delač played an instrumental role in helping Vojvodina reach play-off round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, where Vojvodina lost to

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n side Sheriff Tiraspol. At the same time he quickly became a crowd favorite. Midway through the first half of the season, Delač lost his place as a starting keeper. By the end of December, he decided to cut his stay in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

short, and return to Chelsea.

Loan to Sarajevo

Preceding his return from Vojvodina, Delač joined Bosnian Premier League side

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. On 1 March 2014, he made his Sarajevo debut in a 1–0 defeat against Čelik Zenica. A couple of weeks later, Delač registered his first clean sheet in Sarajevo's 2–0 away victory over Mladost Velika Obarska. He returned to Chelsea at the end of the campaign after appearing seven times for the Bosnian side.

Loan to Arles-Avignon

On 1 September 2014, Delač joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side Arles-Avignon on loan for the 2014–15 campaign. On 12 September 2014, Delač made his debut for Arles-Avignon in their 1–0 league victory over

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. Delač fell out of favour whilst at the French side and went onto make ten more league appearances before terminating his loan spell in January 2015.

Return to Sarajevo

On 27 February 2015, Delač returned to Sarajevo for the remainder of the 2014–15 campaign. On 14 March 2015, he marked his Sarajevo return with a clean sheet in their 0–0 draw with Borac Banja Luka. Delač went onto register seven more clean sheets, helping Sarajevo win their first league title since 2006. On 7 August 2015, Delač's loan spell with Sarajevo was extended for a further season. On 26 October 2015, he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, during the international break, therefore excluding him out Sarajevo's plans for the season.

Loan to Excel Mouscron

On 22 July 2016, Delač joined Belgian side Excel Mouscron on a season-long loan. On 17 September 2016, Delač made his Excel Mouscron debut in a 3–1 victory over

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. Th ...

. On 27 October 2016, Delač registered his first clean sheet for Excel Mouscron in their 0–0 away draw with Waasland-Beveren.

AC Horsens

On 3 April 2018, it was announced that Delač would join Danish Superliga side

in the summer of 2018 on a free transfer when his contract with Chelsea ended.

International career

After earning 8 caps for Croatia's U-17 and U-19 teams between 2007 and 2008, Delač was called up 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 ...

on 30 August 2009 to join the squad as third-choice goalkeeper (behind

Vedran Runje Vedran Runje (; born 10 February 1976) is a Croatian retired association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. A product of Hajduk Split academy, Runje spent the majority of his career abroad with St ...

and Danijel Subašić) for their 2010 World Cup qualifiers against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

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, breaking the record for the youngest Croatian player ever called up for international duty.

Career statistics

Honours

Vitória de Guimarães *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2012–13 Sarajevo * Bosnian Premier League: 2014–15 * Bosnian Cup: 2013–14

References

External links