Matej Delač
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| Matej Delač | |
| |
| Full Name | Matej Delač |
| Date of Birth | 20 August 1992 |
| Place of Birth | Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Bosnia & Herzegovina |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Chelsea career | 2009 - 2018 |
| Debut | n/a |
| Games (goals) | n/a |
| Other clubs | Inter Zaprešić Vitesse Arnhem (loan) Dynamo České Budějovice (loan) Vitória SC (loan) Inter Zaprešić (loan) FK Vojvodina (loan) FK Sarajevo (loan) Arles-Avignon (loan) FK Sarajevo (loan) Excel Mouscron (loan) |
Matej Delač (born 20 August 1992 in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Bosnia & Herzegovina) is a goalkeeper who formerly played for Chelsea.
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Pre-Chelsea career
Delač impressed as a schoolboy in the junior ranks at Croatian club Inter Zaprešić, and had early interest from abroad, notably from Benfica in Portugal. His professional debut came in February 2009 when, as a 16 year-old, he came off the bench to replace Inter's goalkeeper, who had been dismissed, to face a penalty against NK Zagreb. He saved the spot kick to ensure a famous 1-0 victory. He would finish the season as the club's first choice goalkeeper.
Chelsea career
In September 2009, Delač agreed to join Chelsea, who, at the time, had just been banned from making transfers due to the Gael Kakuta issue. After signing a five-year deal it was announced that he would remain playing for Inter in his domestic league for the remainder of the 2009-10 season, before potentially joining up with his new club once he was 18.
Despite a poor season for his club since, Matej continued to impress, although he did miss a period of time suffering with mononucleosis. He trained with Chelsea in December 2009, and officially became a Chelsea player on his 18th birthday in August 2010.
Four days later it was confirmed that he would spent 2010-11 in Holland on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, joined by fellow Chelsea players Nemanja Matic and Slobodan Rajković. However, he would not make a single competitive appearance during his year at the club.
Delač was then loaned to Czech side Dynamo České Budějovice for the duration of the 2011-12 season. [1] He made just a handful of cup appearances and one league outing for them in another failure of a loan deal. Delač revealed that Petr Cech had recommended the move and believed him to be more than good enough but the powers that be at Budějovice chose alternative options.
In July 2012, he was loaned to Portuguese top division side Vitória SC along with Milan Lalkovic. Like his previous spells, he failed to get into the first team, and at the mid-season juncture instead returned to Inter Zapresic in a bid to get regular football. He did just that, starting 16 games for his first club as they (unsuccessfully) attempted to avoid relegation.
A move to Serbia followed ahead of the 2013-14 season as Mateja Kezman helped bring him to FK Vojvodina. He served as a regular in his half-season stay in Novi Sad as his team mounted a surprising title challenge, but with a three-month winter break on the cards, he returned to Chelsea in December and in January joined FK Sarajevo in Bosnia until the end of the season.
In August 2014 he joined French Ligue 2 side Arles-Avignon on loan for the season but struggled for regular playing time and, in February of 2015, he re-joined FK Sarajevo for a second loan spell and it was there that he kept eight clean sheets to help the club win their first title since 2006. A third spell there for 2015-16 started very well indeed but in October he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out for six months. Impressively, he was able to return to fitness and play three times again in the final weeks of the campaign.
He spent 2016-17 at Royal Mouscron, playing 28 games in a generally impressive season, and then spent the following pre-season back at Chelsea for the first time in a number of years. With no loan move secured, he trained with the first team and Development Squads until securing a permanent departure in early 2018, agreeing to join Danish club AC Horsens on a free transfer at the end of his contract later that same summer.
International
Matej has represented Croatia at Under-15, Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-20 levels, most recently starring in his team's Semi Final showing at the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championships in France.
He was called up by senior manager Slaven Bilic for their qualifier away to England in August 2009 whilst still a 16 year-old and was not only considered as their goalkeeper of the future, but potentially one of the greatest Croatian players since the country gained independence.
He is also eligible to play for Bosnia.
Career Statistics
Senior Club Football
| Season | Club | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 2008-09 | Inter Zaprešić | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2009-10 | Inter Zaprešić (loan) | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 2010-11 | Vitesse Arnhem (loan) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011-12 | HC Dynamo Ceske Budejovice (loan) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2012-13 | Vitória SC (loan) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012-13 | Inter Zaprešić (loan) | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2013-14 | FK Vojvodina (loan) | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 2013-14 | FK Sarajevo (loan) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2014-15 | Arles-Avignon (loan) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2014-15 | FK Sarajevo (loan) | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2015-16 | FK Sarajevo (loan) | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2016-17 | Mouscron | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Total | 137 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 0 | |
Career honours
- 2014-15 Bosnian Premier League (FK Sarajevo, loan)
