Franko Kovačević (born 8 August 1999) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Korean club Gangwon.
 Kovačević in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 August 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Koprivnica, Croatia[1] | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger, forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Gangwon | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2010 | Varaždin | ||
| 2010–2015 | Bjelovar | ||
| 2015–2017 | Rijeka | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2019 | Hajduk Split | 5 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | → Hajduk Split II | 14 | (1) |
| 2019 | → Rudeš (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2019 | Rudeš | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | 1899 Hoffenheim II | 12 | (7) |
| 2020–2021 | → FC Cincinnati (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Pafos (loan) | 25 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | Domžale | 31 | (12) |
| 2023–2024 | Wehen Wiesbaden | 23 | (4) |
| 2024– | Gangwon | 0 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2015 | Croatia U17 | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | Croatia U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2019 | Croatia U21 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 May 2024 | |||
Club career
editBorn in Koprivnica, Kovačević grew up in the city of Križevci. At the age of 10, he joined the youth academy of Varaždin, before switching to Bjelovar a year later. According to him, he started taking football seriously and started "serious training" during his stint at Bjelovar. At the age of 15, he switched to the academy of Rijeka.[2] After having spent one year at the club, he was called by German club Bayern Munich's manager Carlo Ancelotti to train with their team. In spite of the club expressing their interest in him,[3] he joined Hajduk Split on 16 June 2018 and was promoted to the first team.[4]
On 24 August 2017, Kovačević made his first team debut, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Hamza Barry in a 1–1 draw against English club Everton in the UEFA Europa League.[5] On 3 March 2018, he made his league debut, coming as a substitute in a 1–0 victory over Rudeš.[6]
On 15 February 2019, Kovačević was loaned out to Rudeš for the rest of the season.[7] At the end of the season, Rudeš activated the option to sign him permanently for the transfer fee of €300,000.[8] However, a week after activating the option, he was sold to German club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim where he was supposed to play for the U23 team in the Regionalliga Südwest. Kovačević signed a four-year contract with the German club.[9]
FC Cincinnati (loan)
editOn 12 October 2020, it was announced that Kovačević would be loaned out to FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer for the remainder of the 2020 season with an option to extend through 2021.[10]
Pafos
editOn 5 August 2021, Kovačević signed with Cypriot side Pafos.[11]
Domžale
editOn 12 August 2022, Kovačević joined Slovenian PrvaLiga side Domžale on a three-year contract.[12]
Wehen Wiesbaden
editOn 3 August 2023, Kovačević returned to Germany and signed with Wehen Wiesbaden in 2. Bundesliga.[13]
Gangwon
editOn 10 July 2024, Kovačević joined Gangwon in South Korea.[14]
Career statistics
edit- As of match played 1 September 2024[7]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hajduk Split | 2017-18 | Prva HNL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018-19 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Hadjuk Split II | 2017-18 | Druga NL | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2018-19 | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 14 | 1 | — | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||||
| Rudeš (loan) | 2018-19 | Prva HNL | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Hoffenheim II | 2019-20 | Regionalliga | 8 | 5 | — | — | — | 8 | 5 | |||
| 2020-21 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | |||||
| 2022-23 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 12 | 7 | — | — | — | 12 | 7 | |||||
| Cincinnati (loan) | 2020 | MLS | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||||
| Pafos (loan) | 2021-22 | Cyta Championship | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||
| Domžale | 2022-23 | 1. SNL | 30 | 12 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 32 | 14 | ||
| 2023-24 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 2 | — | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 35 | 16 | |||
| Wehen Wiesbaden | 2023-24 | 2. Bundesliga | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | 26 | 4 | |
| Gangwon | 2024 | K League 1 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | 6 | 4 | |||
| Career Total | 133 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 147 | 33 | ||
- ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ^ Appearance(s) in promotion/relegation play-off
References
edit- ^ a b Franko Kovačević at WorldFootball.net
- ^ "FRANKO KOVAČEVIĆ Branio je boje koprivničke Prizme VV, a danas je napadač splitskog Hajduka" [FRANKO KOVAČEVIĆ Defended the colors of Koprivnica Prizma VV, and today is the attacker of the Split Hajduk] (in Croatian). Drava. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Hrvatski 'Ibra': Hajduk sam izabrao ispred Bayerna, a sličim Lewandowskom" [Croatian 'Ibra': I chose Hajduk in front of Bayerna, and similar to Lewandowski] (in Croatian). Goal. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Franko Kovačević potpisao za bijele: Čast mi je sto cu nositi Hajdukov dres!" [Franko Kovačević signed for Bianchi : "I'm honoured to wear the Hajduk jersey"] (in Croatian). HNK Hajduk Split. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Split: Hajduk - Everton 1:1". HNK Hajduk Split. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Kovacevic: This is a great motivation to keep working hard". HNK Hajduk Split. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ a b "F. Kovačević". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ Čudan transfer u HNL-u: Drugoligaš plaća Hajduku više od dva milijuna kuna, gol.dnevnik.hr, 11 June 2019
- ^ Franko Kovačević potpisao za Hoffenheim, nogometplus.net, 18 June 2019
- ^ "FC Cincy acquire forward Franko Kovacevic on loan". FC Cincinnati.
- ^ "Franko Kovačević napustio američki MLS i potpisao za ciparski Pafos".
- ^ "Bomba! V Domžale je prišel kar član nemškega Hoffenheima!". Ekipa24.si (in Slovenian). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ "Pretres v Domžalah; klub zapuščajo napadalec, trener in športni direktor". Slovenski nogometni portal (in Slovenian). 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
- ^ "강원FC, 크로아티아 청소년 대표 출신 FW 코바세비치 영입" [Gangwon FC acquires Croatia youth national team FW Kovacevic] (in Korean). 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
External links
edit- Franko Kovačević at the Croatian Football Federation
- Franko Kovačević at Soccerway