Introduction
Ivan Šunjić (born 9 October 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for English Championship club Birmingham City and the Croatia national team. He previously played for Lokomotiva and Dinamo Zagreb.
Club career
Born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šunjić made his professional debut with Dinamo Zagreb in the 2013–14 season.
Lokomotiva Zagreb
After appearing only for the reserves, he joined Lokomotiva on 10 February 2016. On 13 May 2017, he scored his first goal for the club in the dying minutes of a 2–0 league victory over Inter Zaprešić. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Šunjić was made the club captain. On 15 September, he scored the winning goal in the final minutes of a 1–0 league victory against Cibalia.
On 12 February 2018, Šunjić rejoined Dinamo Zagreb and signed a contract until 15 June 2023. However, at the same time, he was loaned to Lokomotiva for the rest of the season.
Dinamo Zagreb
He returned to Dinamo Zagreb for the 2018–19 season and featured 41 times in all competitions. He made 8 appearances in the Europa League, scoring in a 4–1 win over Fenerbahçe on 20 September 2018 and starting in Dinamo Zagreb's impressive 1–0 first leg win against Benfica in the round of 16 of the Europa League on 7 March. He was suspended for the second leg, in which Dinamo Zagreb were eliminated. Šunjić made 30 league appearances as Dinamo Zagreb finished as champions, and scored a 90th-minute goal in the Croatian Cup semifinal against Osijek that secured a 2–0 win. He started in the final, which Dinamo Zagreb lost 3–1 to Rijeka.
Birmingham City
On 26 July 2019, Šunjić signed a five-year contract with Birmingham City of the English Championship. The officially undisclosed fee was reported as €7 million. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in Birmingham's opening fixture of the season, a 1–0 win away against Brentford on 3 August 2019.
International career
Šunjić was included in Croatia's squad for the 2013 Under-17 World Cup, and played all three group matches.
Šunjić was called up to the senior national team for a friendly match against Mexico in the United States on 28 May. He played the whole of the match, in which an inexperienced Croatia team comprising largely debutants and reduced to ten men secured a 2–1 victory against a relatively strong Mexican side.
He captained Croatia at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championships and played all three of their matches.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 8 July 2020
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2013–14 | Croatian First Football League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | Croatian First Football League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Croatian First Football League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb II | 2015–16 | Croatian Second Football League | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Lokomotiva | 2015–16 | Croatian First Football League | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Croatian First Football League | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | Croatian First Football League | 29 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 6 | |||
| Total | 62 | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 72 | 7 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2017–18 | Croatian First Football League | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2018–19 | Croatian First Football League | 24 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 13 | 1 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Croatian First Football League | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 24 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 14 | 1 | 42 | 2 | |||
| Birmingham City | 2019–20 | Championship | 36 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 40 | 2 | |
| Career total | 135 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 168 | 10 | ||
International
- As of match played 11 June 2019
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Honours
Dinamo Zagreb
- First Football League: 2013–14, 2018–19
- Croatian Cup runner up: 2018–19