Birmingham City sign Croatia U-21 captain Ivan Sunjic
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
BIRMINGHAM, 26 July 2019 – Croatia U-21 captain Ivan Sunjic has signed a five-year deal with English Championship club Birmingham City FC for a fee reported to be around seven million euros.
Sunjic (22) moves from Dinamo Zagreb where he made eight Europa League appearances last season. He has won one cap at senior level for Croatia, as well as playing 57 times for his country at youth level.
The Croatian is seen by Birmingham coach Pep Clotet as the ideal kind of player to help Blues transition in style and formation.
It’s the #FridayFeeling you’ve all been waiting for!
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) July 26, 2019
Hit 💙 if you can’t wait to see Ivan in action in Royal Blue! #WelcomeIvan #BCFC pic.twitter.com/zXU6iFjTI7
Sunjic’s domestic career began with Dinamo Zagreb, where he made his debut in the senior side as a 17-year-old. He spent time at season NK Lokomotiva, helping them finish fourth in the Croatian first division and qualify for the 2016/17 Europa League.
He earned his first international cap as a 20-year-old in 2017, playing all 90 minutes as Croatia beat Mexico 2-1 in a friendly.
Sunjic returned to Dinamo in 2018. In that same season, he was also the regular skipper of his country’s Under-21s side. This summer he led Croatia at the Under-21 championships. Despite still being two months short of his 23rd birthday, Sunjic already has 133 domestic and European appearances under his belt, not to mention 58 international outings at differing age levels.
