January 3, 2023 - 2023 is off to a running start for Hajduk. Former Hajduk captain and player Ivan Leko has been announced as the new coach, and fans have secured over 8,000 club memberships since January 1! 

Ivan Leko is the new coach of Hajduk! On the last day of 2022, the 44-year-old expert from Split agreed to cooperate with the club until the summer of 2025. He will take over the Hajduk bench at the beginning of January 2023. The first official match of the former legendary and trophy-winning Hajduk captain is expected against Šibenik on January 22 at Poljud. Leko returned to his home club after more than 17 years and won the championship title as a Hajduk player in the 2004/2005 season.

He made his debut for Hajduk at 17 against Osijek under coach Ivan Katalinić. He made 187 official appearances in the white jersey, with 39 goals scored. He won the Cup with Hajduk in 2000, and as captain, he led the team to the championship title in 2000/2001.

In the summer of 2001, he signed for the Spanish club Malaga and returned to Hajduk again in the winter of 2005. In the same season, he won the league title. After that, he spent a large part of his career in Belgium playing for Club Brugge, Beerschot, and Lokeren, where he ended his playing career at 37. He made 13 official appearances for the Croatia national team.

"This moment is very special, emotional. I started playing football at Hajduk and knew the day would come when I would become Hajduk's coach. I am thrilled and looking forward to it, and I hope many beautiful things await us. So many things can be done. The fact is that Hajduk has made huge progress in everything in the last two years. From day one, we will emphasize energy, emotion, and passion, and everything we do will be with that emphasis. I hope our fans will enjoy watching our games," said Leko. 

Leko was an assistant to Igor Tudor at PAOK, and as an independent coach, he managed the Belgian clubs Leuven, Sint-Truden, Royal Antwerp, and Club Brugge, with which he won the championship title, Cup, and Supercup and played in the Champions League group stage in 2018. He also sat on the bench of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates, and his last coaching engagement was with the Chinese Premier League club Shanghai Port, which he led for the previous two years.

The new year also means the beginning of the new Hajduk fan memberships. After the extraordinary 2022, which will be remembered for a record 90,480 members, this year expects even more. 

Namely, in the 112th year of the club, Hajduk wants to reach 112,000 memberships!

"I think that is also impossible, but we have shown so many times that we are moving those boundaries; we can put that figure of 112,000 members to motivate us all together," said Hajduk president Lukša Jakobušić. 

Membership fees this year are 20 euros. If you are under 18 or older than 65, memberships are 10 euros. Family memberships also have a discount of 2 euros for each additional family member.

The new year also means transfer news, and Hajduk has already made some announcements that have surprised some fans. 

Stipe Biuk has left Hajduk after 67 official appearances. The 20-year-old winger left Poljud to join American Los Angeles FC, realizing one of the most significant transfers in the club's history.

As a captain and one of the most talented players of his generation, he led the Hajduk juniors in 2021 to their first junior title after nine years. He made his debut for the first team in March 2021 in a Cup match against Zagreb.

LASK Linz used the option to buy forward Marin Ljubičić, who went on loan to the Austrian club at the end of June this year. Immediately after arriving in Austria, Ljubičić became a standard first-team player and is currently the club's leading scorer. He made 17 official appearances for LASK in the first part of the season. Marin played 44 official matches for Hajduk, scoring nine times and adding four assists.

HNK Hajduk will play four matches as part of final preparations for the spring season, which will be held in Novigrad, Istria.

The first team continued preparations on Monday at Poljud and will travel to Novigrad on Thursday, where they will stay until January 15.

Match schedule: 

NK Kalcer Radomlje - Hajduk (January 7)

MOL Fehervar - Hajduk (January 11)

Celje - Hajduk (January 14)

1. FC Slovácko - Hajduk (January 15)

Source: Hajduk.com

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January 10, 2022 - Hajduk Split wonderkid Stipe Biuk is in the UEFA spotlight as the only Croatian footballer named as a young player to watch in 2022. 

The European Football Organization (UEFA) has singled out a list of the most talented footballers under the age of 21 who could come to the forefront of the football public this season.

The list includes several famous names and one Croatian football player - 19-year-old Hajduk Split winger Stipe Biuk.

Thanks to his outstanding performance in the U21 European Championship quarterfinal match against Spain earlier this year, the European football public took notice of the Hajduk Split player. 

"Biuk turned heads with an impressive cameo against Spain at last summer's Under-21 EURO finals, and the left-winger has been a regular starter at club level during the past nine months," writes UEFA. 

He won a penalty for extra time, though the U21 Croatia national team did not have enough strength to beat Spain and win a spot in the semifinals.

Biuk signed a professional contract with Hajduk until 2026 in January 2021. As captain, he led the Hajduk junior team to lead the standings in the first half of the season. Thanks to his excellent play, he was invited to the winter preparations with the first team last year, together with Marin Ljubičić. He has also been a regular member of all Croatia national team younger age categories. 

Some of the largest European clubs have already targeted Biuk. In August last year, it was revealed that Lokomotiv Moscow and Manchester City were after the youngster, with City offering 12.5 million euros for the footballer. It would have been the club's record transfer. 

Hajduk's record outgoing transfer thus far is Nikola Vlašić, who was sold to Everton in the summer of 2017 for 10.8 million euros. 

You can see the list of UEFA's most talented young footballers HERE.

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June 16, 2021 - The 2021 Golden Boy award boasts three young Croatian football talents this time around - Stipe Biuk, Joško Gvardiol, and Antonio Marin. 

There is no need to worry about the future of Croatian football, as the passionate football country always finds a way to produce new talent. 

For years, we have read that young players from England, France, Italy, and Brazil are worth ten million euros each, even though they were teenagers at the time, while Croats would often be placed in the rank of players of several hundred thousand euros. But times are changing.

Namely, Stipe Biuk, Josko Gvardiol, and Antonio Marin are Croatia's representatives for this year's Golden Boy award!

Joško Gvardiol, a member of the Croatia national team for EURO 2020, was sold to RB Leipzig for 16.5 million euros, while Antonio Marin, a well-known Dinamo talent who was in Monza and returned to Lokomotiva, is the 'ten' of the U-20 national team and a player that should bloom next season. Hajduk wonderkid Stipe Biuk is a new miracle who delighted the Split club in spring last season, and immediately drew attention to himself thanks to a penalty he earned for Croatia against Spain in the U21 EURO.

Turin's Tuttosport traditionally conducts the poll, led by the editor of the column Massimo Franchi who compiled a list of the greatest young footballers worldwide. 

This prestigious award was first given in 2003 when it went to Rafael van der Wart. After him, the same award went to Rooney, Messi, Aguero, Isco, Pogba, Sterling, Mbappe, de Ligt, Felix, and the latest winner is now worth more than €100 million - Erling Braut Haaland. This year's favorites are Pedri, Bellingham, and Musiala. 

This is Tuttosport's nineteenth consecutive selection for the best young football players in the world. On June 15, 100 of them are announced, then in mid-July, the list is cut to 80, in August to 60, in September to 40, and on October 15, 20 of them enter the final race for the "Golden Boy."

So far, 100 footballers have been nominated for this award, including three Croats. For comparison, Serbia has only one (Ivan Ilić), while Slovenia and BiH have no players nominated for this prestigious award.

You can vote for Golden Boy HERE.

Source: Germanijak

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