Zvonimir Šarlija (born 29 August 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Croatian Football League club Hajduk Split.

Zvonimir Šarlija
Šarlija with CSKA Moscow in 2019
Personal information
Full name Zvonimir Šarlija[1]
Date of birth (1996-08-29) 29 August 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Koprivnica, Croatia
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
Hajduk Split
Number 31
Youth career
2005 Slaven Belupo
2005–2006 Koprivnica
2006–2007 Slaven Belupo
2007–2008 Koprivnica
2008–2009 Slaven Belupo
2009–2010 Koprivnica
2010–2015 Slaven Belupo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Slaven Belupo B 22 (2)
2015–2020 Slaven Belupo 44 (0)
2015-2016Koprivnica (loan) 20 (1)
2016–2017Solin (loan) 29 (1)
2019–2020CSKA Moscow (loan) 11 (0)
2020Kasımpaşa (loan) 6 (1)
2020–2021 Ankaragücü 32 (1)
2021–2023 Panathinaikos 41 (0)
2023– Hajduk Split 23 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:32, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Career edit

Born in Koprivnica, Zvonimir Šarlija started practicing football at the local club NK Slaven Belupo, where his father used to play and captain the senior team.[2] As per club practice, he was moved between Slaven and its feeder side NK Koprivnica.[3] At the age of 18, he captained the club's fourth-tier reserve side, where he scored 2 goals in 22 matches, along with the U-19 side.[3][4] Subsequently, he was loaned out by his club, first in 2015 to its third-tier feeder NK Koprivnica, scoring one goal in twenty appearances, then to second-tier NK Solin.[3][4]

Back at Slaven Belupo in 2017, Šarlija gathered 49 caps for the senior side in all competitions.[5]

On 29 June 2019, Slaven Belupo announced that Šarlija had moved to CSKA Moscow,[6] with CSKA confirming the season-long loan deal, with the first option to buy, on 1 July.[7] On 18 January 2020, CSKA Moscow confirmed that their loan deal with Šarlija had ended, and that he'd joined Kasımpaşa on loan for the remainder of the 2019/20 season with Kasımpaşa confining they had an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.[8][9]

On 31 August 2020, it was announced that Šarlija signed for Turkish club Ankaragücü. The reported fee was €350.000 .[10]

On 30 July 2021, he signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos.[11]

In the summer of 2023, Šarlija officially joined Hajduk Split on a four-year contract.[2]

Personal life edit

Šarlija's father Milan, originally from Jasenice near Zadar in Dalmatia[2] captained Slaven Belupo, and later became the club's director for a while. His younger brother Lovro and cousin Ante are also former Slaven Belupo players, while his brother Luka is the club's spokesman.[12] Šarlija is a lifelong Hajduk Split fan, having a tattoo of Ivica Hlevnjak-Bukle's legendary statement "Emocije su zajebane.".[2]

Career statistics edit

As of 14 May 2023
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Solin (loan) 2016–17 2. HNL 29 1 2 0 31 1
Slaven Belupo 2017–18 Prva HNL 13 0 0 0 13 0
2018–19 31 0 2 0 33 0
Total 44 0 2 0 46 0
CSKA Moscow (loan) 2019–20 Russian Premier League 11 0 2 0 1[b] 0 14 0
Kasımpaşa (loan) 2019–20 Süper Lig 6 1 1 0 7 1
Ankaragücü 2020–21 Süper Lig 32 1 1 0 33 1
Panathinaikos 2021–22 Super League Greece 20 0 5 0 25 0
2022–23 21 0 2 0 1[c] 0 24 0
Total 41 0 7 0 1 0 49 0
Career total 163 3 15 0 2 0 180 3

Honours edit

Panathinaikos

References edit

  1. ^ "Zvonimir Sarlija". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Evo tko je Zvonimir Šarlija, novi igrač Hajduka, iz koprivničke je familije, ali 'prgav', otac je bio kapetan 'Belupa'". nk-slaven-belupo.hr/ (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Comet database" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b "MLADI FARMACEUT Zvonimir Šarlija: Preko Solina želim doći do prvog sastava Slavena". drava.info/ (in Croatian). Drava.info. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Slaven ga je na početku sezone prodao za 350 tisuća eura, a sad je slobodan igrač". germanijak.hr/ (in Croatian). Germanijak. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Zvonimir Šarlija karijeru nastavlja u ruskom velikanu CSKA". nk-slaven-belupo.hr/ (in Croatian). NK Slaven Belupo. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Добро пожаловать в ПФК ЦСКА, Звонимир!". pfc-cska.com/ (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Звонимир Шарлия завершит сезон в Турции". pfc-cska.com/ (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Zvonimir Sarlija Kasımpaşamızda". kasimpasa.com.tr/ (in Turkish). Kasımpaşa S.K. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Sarlija preselio u Ankaragucu". hntv.hr (in Croatian). Hrvatska nogometna televizija. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Επίσημο: Στον Παναθηναϊκό με διετές συμβόλαιο ο Ζβόνιμιρ Σάρλια". www.sport24.gr. 30 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Radije gledam Slaven nego Real, a s prijateljem Vidom pijem kavu i borim se za naslov". vecernji.hr/ (in Croatian). Večernji List. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  13. ^ Georgakopoulos, George (22 May 2022). "Panathinaikos ends eight-year trophy drought lifting the Greek Cup". Ekathimerini. Retrieved 31 January 2023.

External links edit