Bartol Franjic

Bartol Franjic (Croatian pronunciation: [baːrtol fraːɲitɕ]; born 14 January 2000) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Prva HNL side Dinamo Zagreb.

Club Career

Born in Zagreb and raised in Dugo Selo, Franjic joined the academy of Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb in 2008, frequently serving as a captain at various youth levels. On 1 April 2016, he signed a contract with the club until 2022. In January 2019, Franjic joined the senior team during the winter break training camp in Belek during Nenad Bjelica's tenure at the club. He played and scored in a friendly 2–0 victory over Slask Wroclaw, impressing his older teammates. In 2019–20 UEFA Youth League, Franjic played a key part as Dinamo progressed to the knockout phase from the group with Atalanta, Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk.

On 17 June 2020, Franjic debuted for senior Dinamo team in a 3–2 victory over Slaven Belupo, during the tenure of Igor Jovicevic, his former coach from the youth ranks. However, Jovicevic was soon sacked and succeeded by Zoran Mamic. On 22 October, Franjic made his Europa League debut in a goalless draw with Feyenoord, coming on for Kristijan Jakic in the 71st minute. A week later, he was unexpectedly named in the starting lineup in the Europa League fixture against CSKA Moscow away. The game ended in another goalless draw, and Franjic was praised for his defensive performance against CSKA Moscow's Nikola Vlasic. On 15 December, Franjic renewed his contract with Dinamo until 2025. On 18 March 2021, new coach Damir Krznar named Franjic in the starting lineup for the second leg of Dinamo's Europa League Round of 16 tie against Tottenham Hotspur. He played out of position–as a centre-back while defending and a left-back while attacking–earning praise for his performance as Dinamo won 3–2 on aggregate.

At the beginning of the 2021–22 season, on 10 August, Franjic scored his first goal for Dinamo in a Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw, which turned out to be