Lovre Kalinić


Lovre Kalinić is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Aston Villa, and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Hajduk Split

Lovre Kalinić made his HNK Hajduk Split debut on 23 April 2011, under manager Ante Miše at the age of 21 years and 20 days, in a Prva HNL match against NK Slaven Belupo, which his side won 2–1.
After loans to Junak Sinj in 2009, Novalja in 2010 and Karlovac in 2012, Hajduk managed Igor Tudor brought Lovre Kalinić back to Hajduk Split to be the number one goalkeeper for the 2013–14 season.
In the 2015–16 season, Kalinić set a new record for most consecutive minutes without a goal conceded in the 1. HNL. The goalkeeper went eight games, or 775 minutes, without conceding a goal. The previous record was held by Zoran Slavica, who went 711 minutes without conceding a goal in the Prva HNL.
As a result of being part of Croatia's UEFA Euro 2016 squad, Kalinić missed the first three rounds of Hajduk's 2016–17 season, being granted an extended holiday by Hajduk boss Marijan Pušnik. He made his return on 28 July 2016, where Hajduk defeated FC Oleksandriya 3–0 in the Third Round of the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League qualifying at CSC Nika Stadium, keeping a clean sheet. In September 2016, Kalinić signed a new five-year contract with Hajduk. In his time at Hajduk, Kalinić made 134 official appearances across seven seasons. In total, Kalinić spent 17 years of junior and senior football with Hajduk.

Gent

On 27 December 2016, Hajduk announced that Lovre Kalinić had played his last game for the club, with a move to Belgian First Division A side K.A.A. Gent completed. The transfer fee is the highest fee for a goalkeeper in the history of the Prva HNL. The €3.1m transfer fee will make Kalinić the most expensive player in Gent's history. He was named Best Goal Keeper in the Belgian league for the 2016–17 season, after having played only half a season upon arriving in January to Gent from Hajduk Split.

Aston Villa

On 21 December 2018, English Championship club Aston Villa announced that they had reached an agreement with Gent to sign Kalinić at the start of the January transfer window. He officially joined on 1 January 2019. His debut was in a 3–0 defeat in a home FA Cup tie against Swansea City. His league debut was in another 3–0 defeat, this time against Wigan Athletic, which was followed by a 2–2 draw with Hull City – meaning that Kalinić had conceded 8 goals in his first 3 games.

Toulouse (loan)

On 20 January 2020, Kalinić joined Ligue 1 club Toulouse until the end of the 2019-20 season.

International career

After Stipe Pletikosa retired from international football in 2014, Kalinić became Croatia's second choice goalkeeper behind Danijel Subašić. He was part of Croatia's UEFA Euro 2016 squad.
In May 2018 he was named in Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He played the last match of group stage against Iceland making several crucial saves. Croatia finished as the runners-up of the tournament, losing to France in the final.
After the tournament ended, Subašić retired from international football. Kalinić has thus been appointed as the first choice goalkeeper for the national team. However, due to injuries and the consequent drop in form, he was benched again in favour of Dominik Livaković.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Aston Villa
Croatia
Individual
Orders