Ivan Šunjić

Ivan Šunjić
Šunjić with Birmingham City in 2019
Personal information
Full name Ivan Šunjić
Date of birth (1996-10-09) 9 October 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Birmingham City
Number 34
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Dinamo Zagreb 1 (0)
2015–2016 Dinamo Zagreb II 12 (0)
2016–2018 Lokomotiva 51 (4)
2018–2019 Dinamo Zagreb 24 (0)
2018Lokomotiva (loan) 11 (3)
2019– Birmingham City 145 (6)
2022–2023Hertha BSC (loan) 19 (0)
International career
2012 Croatia U16 6 (0)
2012–2013 Croatia U17 21 (0)
2013–2014 Croatia U18 4 (0)
2014–2015 Croatia U19 8 (3)
2014–2019 Croatia U21 18 (1)
2017 Croatia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:08, 14 January 2024 (UTC)

Ivan Šunjić (born 9 October 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Birmingham City. He previously played for Lokomotiva and Dinamo Zagreb, and spent the 2022–23 season on loan to Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. Internationally, he was a regular in Croatia's youth teams from under-16 through to under-21 level, and was capped once for the senior team in 2017.

Club career

Born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šunjić made his professional debut with Dinamo Zagreb in the 2013–14 season.

Lokomotiva Zagreb

After appearing only for the reserves, he joined Lokomotiva on 10 February 2016. On 13 May 2017, he scored his first goal for the club in the dying minutes of a 2–0 league victory over Inter Zaprešić. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Šunjić was made the club captain. On 15 September, he scored the winning goal in the final minutes of a 1–0 league victory against Cibalia.

On 12 February 2018, Šunjić rejoined Dinamo Zagreb and signed a contract until 15 June 2023. However, at the same time, he was loaned to Lokomotiva for the rest of the season.

Dinamo Zagreb

He returned to Dinamo Zagreb for the 2018–19 season and featured 41 times in all competitions. He made 8 appearances in the Europa League, scoring in a 4–1 win over Fenerbahçe on 20 September 2018 and starting in Dinamo Zagreb's impressive 1–0 first leg win against Benfica in the round of 16 of the Europa League on 7 March. He was suspended for the second leg, in which Dinamo Zagreb were eliminated. Šunjić made 30 league appearances as Dinamo Zagreb finished as champions, and scored a 90th-minute goal in the Croatian Cup semifinal against Osijek that secured a 2–0 win. He started in the final, which Dinamo Zagreb lost 3–1 to Rijeka.

Birmingham City

On 26 July 2019, Šunjić signed a five-year contract with Birmingham City of the English Championship. The officially undisclosed fee was reported as €7 million. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in Birmingham's opening fixture of the season, a 1–0 win away against Brentford on 3 August 2019. His "rasping rising 20-yard shot which flew into the net" to tie the scores away to Derby County won him the Championship Goal of the Month award for October, but Birmingham lost the match. Three months into the season, the Birmingham Mail rated his performance at 9/10, describing him as "imposing and dynamic" and suggesting that "the destructive side of his game [had] gone up a level", Interviewed during the first COVID-19 lockdown, Šunjić felt satisfied by his season thus far, despite dips in form which he felt inevitable in a "fast, physical league" with many games, but admitted there were areas in which he could improve. He finished the season with 44 appearances (40 starts).

Hertha Berlin loan

Šunjić joined Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin on loan for the 2022–23 season.

International career

Šunjić was included in Croatia's squad for the 2013 Under-17 World Cup, and played all three group matches.

Šunjić was called up to the senior national team for a friendly match against Mexico in the United States on 28 May. He played the whole of the match, in which an inexperienced Croatia team comprising largely debutants and reduced to ten men secured a 2–1 victory against a relatively strong Mexican side.

He captained Croatia at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championships and played all three of their matches.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dinamo Zagreb 2013–14 Prva HNL 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2014–15 Prva HNL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Prva HNL 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Dinamo Zagreb II 2015–16 Druga HNL 12 0 12 0
Lokomotiva 2015–16 Prva HNL 10 0 10 0
2016–17 Prva HNL 23 1 1 0 6 0 30 1
2017–18 Prva HNL 29 6 3 0 32 6
Total 62 7 4 0 6 0 72 7
Dinamo Zagreb 2018–19 Prva HNL 24 0 4 1 13 1 41 2
2019–20 Prva HNL 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 24 0 4 1 14 1 42 2
Birmingham City 2019–20 Championship 40 3 4 0 0 0 44 3
2020–21 Championship 43 0 1 0 1 0 45 0
2021–22 Championship 41 3 1 0 2 0 44 3
2023–24 Championship 22 0 0 0 2 0 24 0
Total 146 6 6 0 5 0 157 6
Hertha BSC (loan) 2022–23 Bundesliga 18 0 1 0 19 0
Career total 263 13 16 1 5 0 20 1 304 15
  1. ^ Includes Croatian Cup, FA Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in Europa League
  5. ^ Appearance in Champions League

International

Šunjić with Croatia U19 in 2015
As of match played 11 June 2019
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2017 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb


This page was last updated at 2024-01-15 07:28 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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