Croatian striker Nikola Kalinich

Nikola Kalinich is a Croatian footballer,who currently plays for the Italian "Fiorentina". This year he turned 28, so now he is at the peak of his career. Nikola Kalinich stands at the position of the central striker.

Carier start

Nikola Kalinich was born on January 5, 1988 in theCroatia, where at the age of ten he got into the system of the club "Hajduk" from the city of Split. It was there that he spent his youth, having studied eight years in the academy and speaking for youth compositions of different age categories. In 2006 he was offered a professional contract, which he happily signed. Kalinich managed to enter the field seven times in the final segment of the season 05/06, after which he was loaned to Pula in the summer, where he entered the field 13 times, scoring three goals. The next year he spent in rent in "Sibenik" - where he received even less gaming practice, having played only 8 matches and scoring 3 goals. But when the young talent returned from the lease, he flashed to the whole country, scoring 26 goals in 36 games. The following season, his result was slightly more modest, but still remained impressive - 18 goals in 36 games. Naturally, this game Nikola Kalinich attracted the attention of clubs from the leading European championships, and in the summer of 2009 for 7 million euros he moved to Blackburn.

Going to Blackburn

In "Blackburn" Kalinich immediately got a place in thebasis, but for two years and 53 games managed to score only 13 goals. Naturally, the British did not like this, because they expected more from such a promising talent as Nikola Kalinich. As a result, the football player was put on a transfer and in the summer of 2011 moved to the Ukrainian "Dnepr", which paid him six million euros.

The game for "Dnepr"

It was in the "Dnieper" that Kalinich found himself - in the firsttwo seasons he scored twenty goals, and in 2015 he became one of the key players who contributed to the club's exit to the European League final. In that season, Kalinich surprised everyone again, scoring 19 goals. In just four years in the "Dnieper" Croat entered the field 125 times, scoring 49 goals. And in the summer of 2015, he decided to go on promotion, moving to the Italian "Fiorentina", which paid him five and a half million euros.

Moving to Italy

In the "Fiorentina" Kalinich also immediately receivedplace in the base and in the first season scored 13 goals in 42 games. In the current season, he has so far only entered the field 16 times, and has already scored nine goals and two assists.

National team appearances

In the national team of Croatia, Kalinich made his debut in June2008 - it was an unusual debut, as his first official match for the national team Nicola played at the 2008 European Championships. Since then, he spent 33 matches for the national team, scoring 13 goals. At the last European championship in 2016, he twice appeared on the field, scoring one goal and giving one scoring pass.