Josip Iličić

Josip Iličić ( born 29 January 1988) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Slovenian PrvaLiga club Maribor.

At the end of the 2009–10 season, Interblock was relegated to the Second League after losing the relegation play-offs against Triglav.

Despite being one of the best players of his club and one of the top prospects of Slovenian football Iličić finished the season as a reserve.

Aged 21, Iličić contemplated an idea of finishing his playing career altogether.

He wanted to return to futsal, his passion, and to find a job, however, a few weeks later he received a phone call from Zlatko Zahovič, the director of football at Maribor, who proposed he should sign for the club.

Iličić began his professional career with Slovenian club Bonifika, later also playing for Interblock and Maribor in his home country, before moving to Italy in 2010 to join Palermo.

Iličić made his senior debut for the Slovenia national team in August 2010 in a friendly match against Australia.

In a life changing decision, Iličić took the offer immediately and moved to Slovenia's second largest city, where he made a big impact from the start as he scored twice in the UEFA Europa League qualifying match against Scottish Premier League club Hibernian in July 2010.

He then scored again, in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff round against Sicilian Palermo, which ended in a 3–2 win for the Slovenian side.

On the very next day, it was confirmed that Palermo had acquired Iličić and teammate Armin Bačinović from Maribor for a permanent move.

The transfer fee paid by Palermo was undisclosed, but it was reported to be around €2.3 million.

Iličić debuted for Palermo in the Serie A on 12 September 2010 against Brescia, replacing Giulio Migliaccio in the second half.

In the next round, he was already a starter and scored his first goal for Palermo at home against reigning champions Internazionale.

Only four days later, on 23 September 2010, he scored his second goal of the season, this time against another Italian giant Juventus.

His good performances against top Italian teams continued when he scored a goal against Fiorentina on 3 October 2010, and against Roma on 28 November 2010.

On 20 June 2011, Iličić signed a new five-year contract.

He changed his shirt number to 27 on 16 August 2011.

However, in the 2011–12 season Iličić struggled to make an impact mostly due to Javier Pastore – Iličić's attacking midfield partner – being sold in a record bid to Paris Saint-Germain, and Iličić provided only two goals as a result.

Despite that, he was confirmed for the 2012–13 season as well, being paired with new signing Franco Brienza in a 3–4–2–1 formation by new head coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Iličić's top moment of the season came on 24 November 2012, when he scored a winning brace in a 3–1 home win for a struggling Palermo side against Catania in the Sicilian derby.

In 2013, he signed for Fiorentina, and subsequently for Atalanta in 2017.

After spending twelve years in Italy, Iličić returned to Maribor in 2022.

Three years after his debut, he scored his first international goal against Cyprus in September 2013.

In total, he made 79 appearances for the team in his eleven-year career.

Born in Prijedor, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iličić started his career playing in the youth teams of Triglav Kranj and later Britof.

At the age of 19, he moved to SC Bonifika, where he played for a season in the Slovenian Second League.

It was there when his talent was spotted by Interblock, where he stayed for two seasons playing in the Slovenian top division.

On 23 July 2013, Palermo officially confirmed the sale of Iličić to Serie A rivals Fiorentina on their website.

Later, the deal was officially announced by Fiorentina on their website.

The transfer fee was undisclosed, reported to be in the sum of €9 million including add-ons.

He scored six goals in his first season at Fiorentina.

The 2014–15 season was more successful for him, finishing as the club's top scorer with ten goals in all competitions, along with Mario Gómez.

On 5 July 2017, Atalanta signed Iličić from Fiorentina for a reported fee of €5.5 million after Fiorentina declined to offer him a contract extension.

Iličić made an immediate impact in his first year at Atalanta, scoring 11 times in a seventh-place finish.

He enjoyed his best time as a professional footballer with Atalanta, scoring eleven or more league goals in each of his first three years at the club and was awarded a spot in the 2018–19 Serie A Team of the Year.

He is the first player to ever score four away goals in a Champions League knockout match, and is also the oldest player to score four goals in a Champions League knockout match.

He was also awarded a spot in the 2018–19 Serie A Team of the Year along with teammate Duván Zapata.

The following year, he scored twelve times in a historic season as Atalanta finished third in the Serie A, earning them a spot in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time.

On 25 January 2020, Iličić scored a hat-trick, which included a free kick goal from the halfway line, in a 7–0 victory over Torino.

On 10 March 2020, Iličić scored all four of Atalanta's goals in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions league round of 16 match against Spanish side Valencia, to secure a 4–3 win and help Atalanta progress to the quarter-finals.