Jan Oblak

Jan Oblak (born 7 January 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and captains the Slovenia national team.

He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

At the age of ten, he moved to the Olimpija youth academy, where he remained until the end of the 2004–05 season when the club was dissolved.

He then moved to the newly founded Bežigrad, which, after a series of name changes, became Olimpija Ljubljana in 2008.

On 17 May 2009, Oblak, aged 16, made his professional debut for Olimpija Ljubljana in the 2008–09 Slovenian Second League in a 7–2 win against Mura 05.

Olimpija Ljubljana earned promotion to PrvaLiga for the 2009–10 season as league winners.

In the next season, Oblak was the team's main goalkeeper, only missing three league games as the club finished fourth in the league table.

On 14 June 2010, Oblak signed a contract with Portuguese club Benfica, who loaned him to fellow top level club Beira-Mar in August 2010.

The following year, Oblak rejected a contract from Italian club Empoli in favour of a trial at Fulham, but he eventually did not leave the club and committed his future with a contract extension until 2011.

He then joined Olhanense on loan in January 2011, until the end of the 2010–11 season.

Benfica loaned Oblak to another Portuguese team, União de Leiria, for the 2011–12 campaign.

Oblak made his senior international debut for Slovenia in 2012, and has been named Slovenian Footballer of the Year on seven occasions.

He has also been part of Slovenia's national youth teams, from the under-15 to under-21 sides.

Born in the Upper Carniolan town of Škofja Loka, Oblak started playing football at the age of five for his home town club Ločan.

He made his league debut on 15 January 2012, in a 2–2 away draw against Nacional.

On 29 April 2012, after most of the Leiria squad rescinded their contracts due to financial struggles within the club, Oblak was one of only eight players to take part in the league match at home against Feirense in an eventual 4–0 home defeat.

Oblak signed for Portuguese club Benfica at the age of 17, and was part of the team that won the domestic treble in the 2013–14 season.

In July 2013, Oblak failed to present himself for pre-season training, claiming he had no contract with Benfica.

After long-time starting goalkeeper Artur made a series of mistakes midway through the 2013–14 campaign, Benfica manager Jorge Jesus dropped him in favour of Oblak, and the latter went on to keep several clean sheets in his first starts, notably in a 2–0 home win against Porto and a 0–0 draw at Juventus in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.

In 2014 he moved to Atlético Madrid for a fee of €16 million, becoming La Liga's most expensive goalkeeper at the time.

He eventually won the league's Best Goalkeeper of the Year award on 6 July 2014.

On 16 July 2014, Atlético Madrid announced they had reached an agreement with Benfica for the transfer of Oblak, pending a medical examination.

Atlético paid €16 million for the Slovenian player, making him the most expensive goalkeeper in La Liga history.

Oblak moved to Madrid on a six-year deal as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois, who had returned to play for his parent club Chelsea following his loan expiration.

During his presentation, on 22 July 2014, Oblak said, "I don't come to replace anyone. I come as another player. I'm here along with the rest of the players and goalkeepers. I'll do everything in my power to defend this shirt and achieve great results this season. I will do everything in my hand to help the team."

Oblak was an unused substitute in his first competitive fixture on 19 August 2014, the first leg of the 2014 Supercopa de España against Real Madrid, with Miguel Ángel Moyà playing instead.

He made his debut on 16 September 2014, in a 3–2 defeat away to Olympiacos in Atlético's first Champions League group match of the season.

His first clean sheet came in his first Copa del Rey match, a 3–0 win away to L'Hospitalet in the first leg of the last 32 on 3 December 2014.

In 2015–16 he won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper, conceding an all-time record low of 18 goals.

He won the award again in the following three seasons, and for a fifth time in 2021.

On 17 March 2015, he replaced the injured Moyà in the 23rd minute of a Champions League last 16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen, and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 home victory.

The tie went to a penalty shoot-out, in which he saved Leverkusen's first attempt by Hakan Çalhanoğlu in an eventual triumph.

Four days later, due to the injury, he made his league debut, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over neighbours Getafe.

Despite, he was included in the squad of the season of the 2015–16 Champions League.

In February 2016, Oblak was rewarded with a contract extension through 2021 with a reported release clause of £77.5 million.

On 3 May 2016, Oblak saved Thomas Müller's penalty at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals; although Atlético lost the match 2–1, they advanced to the final on away goals.

In the final, however, Atlético lost against Real Madrid 5–3 on penalties, with Oblak failing to save any of the five attempts.

Oblak was also nominated for the 2017 and 2018 Ballon d'Or awards, following his consistent performances with his club.

Late into the following month, he signed a contract extension until 2018, describing the situation as a "misunderstanding."

With over 400 appearances for Atlético Madrid, Oblak has won four trophies with the club, including the 2020–21 edition of La Liga.