Matej Delac

Matej Delac (pronounced [matej delatʃ]; born 20 August 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish club Horsens.

Club Career

Inter Zapresic

A product of Inter Zapresic youth academy, Delac started to impress very early on and after only a few appearances for Croatia U-15 he attracted attention from bigger clubs across Europe. During summer 2008, Delac went on trial at Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica and came very close to joining them, but the two clubs couldn't agree terms so he stayed at Zapresic.

He had his professional debut for NK Inter Zapresic in the 2008–09 season on 22 February 2009 against NK Zagreb, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the Croatian first division (at 16 years and 186 days of age). He impressed football pundits in his debut by miraculously saving a penalty from Davor Vugrinec in the 85th minute, contributing to Inter's 1–0 victory and becoming man of the match. Delac continued with good performances and finished the 2008-09 season with 15 appearances, as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.

Chelsea

On 11 September 2009, two days after Croatia's defeat at Wembley, Croatian news reports revealed that Delac had stayed in London for a medical examination and was on the verge of signing a pre-contract with Premier League club Chelsea. Reports claimed that Chelsea scouts had been following Delac's performances in the Croatian first division for months and that their Director of Football Frank Arnesen previously went to Zagreb to agree terms of the transfer.

It was announced at a press conference held by Inter on 17 September 2009 that Delac had indeed penned a five-year contract with Chelsea which will come into effect in the January 2011 transfer window. In the meantime, Delac will continue playing at Inter, his wages will be paid by Chelsea, and he is also expected to participate in training at Chelsea's training ground whenever his Prva HNL obl

This page also has a version in other languages :  Матей Делач (russian)