Jani Atanasov ( mk, Јани Атанасов; born 31 October 1999) is a

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

n 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Croatian club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979 ...

Club career

On 5 June 2018, Atanasov joined

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

after successful debut season with

Akademija Pandev Fudbalska Akademija Pandev ( mk, Фудбалска Академија Пандев), commonly known as Akademija Pandev ( mk, Академија Пандев), is a football club based in Strumica, North Macedonia which competes in the Macedonia ...

in the

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competiti ...

. He made his professional debut with Bursaspor in a 2-1

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

loss to Fenerbahçe on 11 August 2018. On 8 September 2020, Atanasov was announced as a new

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, ...

player, signing a three-year contract. He arrived as a free transfer, having terminated his contract with Bursaspor, and was given the number 20 shirt.

International career

Having both Bulgarian and Macedonian citizenship, Atanasov was eligible for both countries. On 11 November 2021 he made his international debut for

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

substituting

Elif Elmas Eljif Elmas ( mk, Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Napoli and the North Macedonia national team. Club career Early career Elmas started his career at FK Ra ...

at minute '83 of the 2022 World Cup Qualifying match against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

, which North Macedonia won by 5-0.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atanasov, Jani 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Strumica Association football midfielders Macedonian footballers North Macedonia youth international footballers North Macedonia under-21 international footballers North Macedonia international footballers Akademija Pandev players Bursaspor footballers HNK Hajduk Split players Macedonian First Football League players Süper Lig players Croatian Football League players Macedonian expatriate footballers Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Croatia