Nikola Tkalčić (born 3 December 1989) is a Croatian football defender who plays for Swedish club Sylvia. He started his senior career in 2008 with NK Varteks, which changed its name to Varaždin during his tenure, before folding in 2015 (no relation to his current club).

Career

Tkalčić started his football career in his native Konjščina, playing for the local football club NK Sloga Konjščina. At the age of 10 he moved to the Varteks academy. During his first senior season he was loaned out to their fourth-tier feeder team Sloboda Varaždin, which emerged as champions of their league, before returning to Varteks to play in the top-tier

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 first-team regular in the 2009/2010 season, Tkalčić was sidelined for a large part of the 2010/2011 season after rupturing his frontal cruciate ligaments in the first game of the season, returning only in March 2011. Tkalčić moved to the Swedish team

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

on the last day of the 2011 summer transfer window, missing all but two of the remaining matches of the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

season, the first and the last. He stated Armin Tanković was of great help for him while he was adapting to life in

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 ...

. His following three seasons at the club would be marked by ups and downs, partly due to injury problems. He played both as full-back and winger during this period. In the 2015 season, however, Tkalčić missed only 4 matches and was a regular in the side that became the

2015 Allsvenskan The 2015 Allsvenskan season, was the 91st edition of top tier Allsvenskan Association football, football competition since its founding in 1924 under the authority of the Swedish Football Association in Sweden; the 2015 in Swedish football, 2015 ...

champions. During that period, he was

's fastest player and had the strongest shot with his right foot. In 2016, he was thought of as the most underestimated player of the

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 ...

. Transferring to

Sarpsborg 08 FF Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

, he only featured in three cup matches and fared somewhat better during a loan to Aalesund in late 2018. On 28 February 2019, Tkalčić left Sarpsborg 08 by mutual consent. On 17 May, he then signed a contract with

Jönköpings Södra IF Jönköpings Södra IF, also known as J-Södra IF, or J-Södra, is a Swedish football club based in Jönköping. The club, founded in 1922, returned to the Swedish second division Superettan in 2018 after relegation from the 2017 Allsvenskan. J ...

until 30 November 2019 after a trial at the club. On 20 January 2022, Tkalčić signed with Sylvia in the Swedish third-tier Ettan.

International career

Tkalčić was capped once for the Croatia U19 team in a 16.4.2008 friendly with Hungary U19, coming in the 59th minute of the 1–0 away win for

Ivan Tomečak Ivan Tomečak (; born 7 December 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer. He is usually deployed as a right full-back, but is often used as a right winger or left full-back. Club career Dinamo Zagreb Loan to Lokomotiva On 14 August 2007, ...

Personal life

Tkalčić is an avid fan of fishing and plays tennis for recreation.Nikola Tkalčić
at

official site

References

External links

*
Nikola Tkalčić
at Sportnet.hr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkalcic, Nikola 1989 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers NK Varaždin (1931–2015) players IFK Norrköping players Sarpsborg 08 FF players Aalesunds FK players Jönköpings Södra IF players NK Varaždin (2012) players Norrby IF players IF Sylvia players Croatian Football League players Allsvenskan players Norwegian First Division players Superettan players Ettan Fotboll players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Norway 21st-century Croatian sportsmen