Josip Elez (; born 25 April 1994) is a Croatian 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for

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

Career

Elez started his career at

NK Solin NK Solin is a Croatian football club based in the town of Solin, near Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, ...

, his hometown club. At the age of 14 he moved to

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

, where he spent five years as a youngster and also collected three first team caps in the

Croatian First Football League 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. Establishe ...

. In July 2013, age 19, Elez was transferred to

S.S. Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian footba ...

for a fee €400,000. Elez spent the 2014–15 season on loan at

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

and Honvéd in Hungary, where he was a regular starter. He spent the following season on loan at

Aarhus Gymnastikforening Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

in Denmark, where he made 29 appearances and scored two goals. AGF were interested in keeping him at the club but were unable to agree a permanent move. In June 2016, Elez was sent to

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

in Croatia on a season-long loan, with a buying option for €450,000.Germanijak.hr
/ref> It was revealed in early May 2017 that HNK Rijeka exercised the buying option. On 1 July 2017, Elez signed a three-year contract with HNK Rijeka, effectively tying him with the club until June 2020. In January 2018, Elez was transferred to

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

on loan for the rest of the season. Hannover 96 was also given a buying option part of a transfer that would involve €3 million transfer fee. Elez rejoined Hajduk Split for the 2021–22 season on a four-year contract. He scored his first goal for Hajduk Split against his former club Rijeka

Career statistics

Honours

HNK Rijeka *

: 2016–17 *

Croatian Football Cup The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...

: 2016–17 Hajduk Split * Croatian Football Cup: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elez, Josip 1994 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatian expatriate men's footballers HNK Hajduk Split players SS Lazio players US Grosseto 1912 players Budapest Honvéd FC players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players HNK Rijeka players Hannover 96 players Croatian Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany