Martin Erlić (Croatian pronunciation: [mǎrtin êːrlitɕ];[3][4] born 24 January 1998) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Bologna and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Early career

Hailing from the village of Tinj [hr], Erlić started training football at NK Raštane in a nearby village. At the age of 12 he was noticed by GNK Dinamo Zagreb scouts and brought to their academy, where he would spend two years before moving on to NK Rijeka. Erlić moved abroad at the age of 16, to Parma.[5] After Parma's bankruptcy, Erlić went to Sassuolo in 2015.[6]

Loan to Südtirol

On 31 August 2017, Erlić moved to Serie C club Südtirol on a season-long loan deal.[7] On 8 October, he made his Serie C debut for Südtirol, as a substitute replacing Filippo Sgarbi in the 70th minute of a 3–1 away defeat against Padova.[8][better source needed] On 15 October, Erlić played his first entire match for Südtirol, a 5–0 home victory against Santarcangelo.[9] On 8 November, Erlić scored his first professional goal for Südtirol in the 81st minute of a 1–0 away win over Sambenedettese.[10] Erlić ended his season-long loan to Südtirol with 30 appearances as well as one goal and assist each.[11]

Later career

On 10 July 2018, Erlić initially was loaned to Serie B club Spezia on a season-long loan deal.[12] After missing most of the 2018–19 season through the injury,[6] he rejoined Spezia on a permanent basis on 15 July 2019.[13] Erlić signed for Sassuolo on 16 August 2021, but was returned on loan to Spezia for the 2021–22 season.[14] On 2 August 2024, he signed with Bologna in Serie A.[15]

International career

On 6 June 2022, Erlić made his debut for the Croatia national team in a 1–1 draw with France in the Nations League.[16] He stated to attend his brother's wedding to play the match.[16] On 9 November 2022, Erlić was named in Zlatko Dalić's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[17] where he remained an unused substitute as Croatia finished third.[18]

Personal life

Erlić is a fan of Hajduk Split.[19][better source needed]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coppa Italia Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Südtirol (loan) 2017–18 Serie C 30 1 0 0 — — 30 1
Spezia (loan) 2018–19 Serie B 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
Spezia 2019–20 Serie B 23 0 0 0 — 4[a] 0 27 0
2020–21 Serie A 27 3 1 0 — — 28 3
Total 50 3 1 0 0 0 4 0 55 3
Spezia (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 30 2 2 1 — — 32 3
Sassuolo 2022–23 Serie A 28 0 0 0 — — 28 0
2023–24 Serie A 32 1 1 0 — — 33 1
Total 60 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 61 1
Bologna 2024–25 Serie A 6 0 1 0 1[b] 0 — 8 0
Career total 176 7 6 1 1 0 4 0 187 8
  1. ^ Appearances in Serie B promotion play-offs
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 15 October 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2022 4 0
2023 3 0
2024 3 0
Total 10 0

Honours

Croatia

References

  1. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Croatia (CRO)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 8. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Martin Erlić". US Sassuolo Calcio. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Màrtin1". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Màrtin
  4. ^ "jèrlija". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Ȇrlić
  5. ^ Gjergja, Ivica. "Serie A i za reprezentaciju Hrvatske!". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b Oddi, Francesco (20 August 2020). "Finale playoff: da Gyasi a Nzola, gli (altri) talenti da seguire in Spezia-Frosinone". La Gazetta dello Sport (in Italian). RCS MediaGroup. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  7. ^ Rimondi, Riccardo (4 August 2024). "Martin Erlić al Bologna: l'affidabilità già nota a Italiano, l'utilità in ottica lista UEFA, la disponibilità ad accettare il ruolo di quarto centrale". zerocinquantuno.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Südtirol vs. Padova". Soccerway. Platform Group. 8 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Südtirol vs. Santarcangelo". Soccerway. Platform Group. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Sambenedettese vs. Südtirol". Soccerway. Platform Group. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  11. ^ "M. Erlić". Soccerway. Platform Group. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Mercato Spezia, arriva dal Sassuolo il difensore Erlić". Liguria Notizie (in Italian). 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Mercato: Martin Erlic ancora in maglia bianca" (Press release) (in Italian). Spezia. 15 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Martin Erlić a Titolo Definitivo al Sassuolo" (in Italian). Spezia. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Martin Erlić Joins Bologna". Bologna FC 1909. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Erlić: Brat mi se ženio, a ja nisam otišao na vjenčanje zbog Hrvatske". Index.hr (in Croatian). 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Dalić objavio popis za Svjetsko prvenstvo u Kataru". Index.hr (in Croatian). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Pet igrača Hrvatske nije dobilo ni minutu na Svjetskom prvenstvu". Index.hr (in Croatian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Comunicato ufficiale: Martin Erlić" (Press release). Spezia. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Martin Erlić profile". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  21. ^ Smyth, Rob (17 December 2022). "Croatia 2-1 Morocco: World Cup 2022 third-place playoff, as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Erli%C4%87
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