Nikola Kalinic is a Croatian footballer who currently plays for the Italian Fiorentina. This year he turned 28 years old, so now he is at the very peak of his career. Nikola Kalinich acts as the center forward.
Carier start
Nikola Kalinic was born on January 5, 1988 in Croatia, where at the age of ten he got into the Hajduk club system from the city of Split. It was there that he spent his youth, having studied for eight years at the academy and speaking for youth squads of various age categories. In 2006, he was offered a professional contract, which he gladly signed. Kalinich managed to enter the field seven times in the final segment of the 05/06 season, after which he was leased to Pula in the summer, where he entered the field 13 times, scoring three goals. He spent the next year on loan at ล ibenik, where he received even less playing practice, playing only 8 matches and scoring 3 goals. But when the young talent returned from the lease, he flashed across the country, scoring 26 goals in 36 matches. The next season, his result was a little more modest, but still remained impressive - 18 goals in 36 matches. Naturally, with such a game, Nikola Kalinich attracted the attention of clubs from the leading European championships, and in the summer of 2009 for 7 million euros he moved to Blackburn.
Going to Blackburn
In Blackburn, Kalinich immediately got a place at the base, but in two years and 53 matches he managed to score only 13 goals. Naturally, the British did not like this, since they expected more from such a promising talent as Nikola Kalinich. The player eventually ended up on a transfer and in the summer of 2011 he moved to the Ukrainian Dnipro, which paid six million euros for it.
The game for the Dnieper
It was in Dnipro that Kalinich found himself - in the first two seasons he scored twenty goals each, and in 2015 he became one of the key players who contributed to the club reaching the final of the Europa League. That season Kalinich surprised everyone again, scoring 19 goals. In just four years in the Dnipro, the Croat entered the field 125 times, scoring 49 goals. And in the summer of 2015, he decided to go up, moving to the Italian Fiorentina, which paid five and a half million euros for it.
Relocation to Italy
In Fiorentina, Kalinich also immediately got a place in the base and scored 13 goals in 42 matches in the first season. This season, he has so far entered the field only 16 times, and has already scored nine goals and two assists.
Team appearances
In the Croatian national team, Kalinich made his debut in June 2008 - it was an unusual debut, since Nicola played her first official match for the national team at the 2008 European Championship. Since then, he spent 33 matches for the national team, scoring 13 goals. At the last European Championship in 2016, he twice appeared on the field, scoring one goal and giving one goal pass.