Alen Halilović

Alen Halilović

Halilović training with Barcelona in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-06-18) 18 June 1996
Place of birth Dubrovnik, Croatia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sporting Gijón
(on loan from Barcelona)
Number 25
Youth career
Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2012–2014 Dinamo Zagreb 44 (7)
2014–2015 Barcelona B 30 (4)
2015– Barcelona 0 (0)
2015– → Sporting Gijón (loan) 33 (3)
National team‡
2010 Croatia U14 2 (1)
2010–2011 Croatia U15 6 (3)
2012 Croatia U16 4 (1)
2012–2013 Croatia U17 10 (2)
2013 Croatia U18 3 (1)
2014– Croatia U21 1 (0)
2013– Croatia 8 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2014

Alen Halilović (born 18 June 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Spanish club Sporting de Gijón on loan from FC Barcelona.

As the Prva HNL's youngest ever goalscorer and the youngest ever debutant for the Croatian national team, he is considered to be one of the most promising young talents of European football.[1][2]

On 27 March 2014, FC Barcelona reached an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb for a five-year transfer to the club.[3]

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

On 27 September 2012, he made his debut for the first team in the "Eternal derby" win over Hajduk Split (3–1), when he replaced Sammir for the final ten minutes of the match.[4] This made him the youngest debutant in the history of Dinamo Zagreb, at the age of 16 years and 101 days. In the next round match against Slaven Belupo, he again came off the bench and scored the final goal in a 4–1 victory. This made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the league, at the age of 16 years and 112 days – breaking the record set in November 2010 by his former teammate, Mateo Kovačić.[5] In November 2012, he scored his second league goal for Dinamo in a 5–0 win against NK Zadar, from outside of the box on an assist provided by Kovačić.[6] In his first professional season with Dinamo, he also managed to participate in UEFA Champions League. On 24 October 2012, he made his European debut in the 90th minute of the encounter against the French team Paris Saint-Germain at Maksimir Stadium, coming on as a substitute for Kovačić. Thus he became the club's youngest player ever to feature in a Champions League match, and second youngest player in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona

On 27 March 2014, FC Barcelona reached an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb for Halilović to join Barcelona in July 2014 at the start of the summer transfer window. He signed a five-year contract for an initial amount of €2.2 million, set to increase if he secures a spot on the first team, and was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División.[3]

On 2 April 2014, FIFA announced that Barcelona would be banned from buying players until summer 2015 after illegally signing underaged players, putting the move in doubt.[7] On 23 April 2014, FC Barcelona's transfer ban was suspended pending an appeal, allowing the transfer to go ahead for the time being.[8] On 2 May 2014, Halilović signed for Barcelona on a five-year contract for €2.2 million.[9]

Halilović made his first appearance for Barcelona's main squad on 15 January 2015, replacing Adama Traoré for the last 28 minutes of a 4–0 away win against Elche CF in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.[10][11]

Sporting Gijón (loan)

On 21 August 2015 he was loaned to fellow league team Sporting de Gijón, in a season-long deal.[12] On 29 August Halilović made his La Liga debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Carlos Carmona in a 0–0 away draw against Real Sociedad.[13] His first goal in the category came on 3 October, opening a 2–1 win away to RCD Espanyol,[14] and on 1 November he netted the only goal of a win against Málaga CF at El Molinón.[15]

Halilović was a half-time substitute for Nacho Cases on 15 December in the national cup last-32 second leg and scored twice – one a penalty kick – to ensure a 3–3 home draw against Real Betis, who advanced 5–3 on aggregate.[16]

International career

Halilović playing for Croatia in 2013

Halilović represented Croatian national team at various youth levels. In March 2013, he was a member of Croatia U17 that qualified for the European Under-17 championship in Slovakia.[17] On 10 June 2013, Halilović made his debut for the senior team against Portugal in a friendly match as a 50th-minute substitute for Ivan Strinić. At age 16, he became the youngest debutant in the history of Croatia.[18][19]

Personal life

His father, Sejad Halilović, is a Bosniak, while his mother Vanessa is a Croat. His father is a former Bosnian and Croatian international who also played for Dinamo Zagreb.[20] The entire family relocated to Barcelona when he signed for them, with his younger brother being signed for Barcelona's youth team.[20] He is a supporter of Bosnian club FK Sarajevo.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 April 2016[22]
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dinamo Zagreb 2012–13 182003[lower-alpha 1]0—212
2013–14 265618[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0416
Total 4476111010628
Barcelona B 2014–15 304—304
Total 304—304
Barcelona 2014–15 001000—10
Total 001000—10
Sporting Gijón (loan) 2015–16 3231200—335
Total 3231200—335
Career totals 10614831101012617
  1. ↑ All appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ↑ Three appearances UEFA Champions League,Five appearances in Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearances in Croatian Football Super Cup

    International

    As of 23 March 2015[23]
    Croatia national team
    YearAppsGoals
    201320
    201450
    201500
    201610
    Total80

    Honours

    [24]

    Dinamo Zagreb
    Barcelona

    Notes

    1. ↑ Includes cup competitions such as the Croatian Football Cup and Copa del Rey

    References

    1. ↑ Sharland, Peter. "Stars of the future: A look at some of European football's most talented 16-year-olds". GiveMeFootball. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    2. ↑ "Sky Sports Scout – Alen Halilovic". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    3. 1 2 "Agreement with Dynamo Zagreb for Alen Halilovic transfer". FC Barcelona official website. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
    4. ↑ Dominik, Ivan (29 September 2012). "Alen Halilović debitirao za Dinamo u derbiju: "Osjećaj je fenomenalan i presretan sam"". Sportnet.hr. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    5. ↑ "Halilović postao najmlađi strijelac u povijest HNL-a: 'Hvala Čačiću i Beqiraju'". Sportske novosti. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    6. ↑ "Halilović nakon golčine Zadru: "Lijepo mi je". Index.hr. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    7. ↑ "Barcelona hit with a year-long transfer ban for breaching rules on youngsters". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
    8. ↑ "Barcelona transfer ban suspended". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
    9. ↑ "Alen Halilovic signs till 2019: "It's a great day"". FC Barcelona official website. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
    10. ↑ "Cuando el trámite se convierte en un placer" [When the procedure becomes a pleasure] (in Spanish). Marca. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
    11. ↑ "Elche - Barcelona". BBC Sport. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
    12. ↑ "Agreement for Halilovic loan to Sporting Gijón". Barcelona's official website. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
    13. ↑ "Illarra no es suficiente" [Illarra is not enough] (in Spanish). Marca. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
    14. ↑ Malgón, Manuel (3 October 2015). "Álex Menéndez vuelve a valer tres puntos" [Álex Menéndez returns to be worth three points] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
    15. ↑ "Alen Halilovic on target as Sporting Gijon edge past Malaga". ESPN. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
    16. ↑ "Halilovic: "Jugamos mucho mejor que el Betis"" [Halilović: "We played much better than Betis"] (in Spanish). Estadio Deportivo. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
    17. ↑ "Hrvatska na Euru U-17 u skupini s Italijom, Rusijom i Ukrajinom". Večernji list. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
    18. ↑ "Croatia vs Portugal". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
    19. ↑ "Transfer news: Barcelona complete signing of Croatian starlet Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb in €2.2m (£1.8m) deal". Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
    20. 1 2 Two in one: After Alen, Dino also signs
    21. ↑ "Alen Halilović: Uvijek sam navijao za Sarajevo, reći ću i Messiju" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
    22. ↑ Alen Halilović profile at Soccerway
    23. ↑ Alen Halilović at National-Football-Teams.com
    24. ↑ "Alen Halilović" (in Portuguese). ZeroZero. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

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