Ignacio Díaz

Striker - NK Varazdin
4 Dec 2028
Monday
Process
99 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Slaven Belupo expected to open talks for Ivan Mamut

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. NK Varazdin will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

Domagoj Begonja signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Domagoj Begonja commits to NK Varazdin for another 3 years.

Squad

Petar Bočkaj asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

Back issues
96 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at NK Varazdin

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Roberto Punčec has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Varazdin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Ivan Canjuga asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Roberto Punčec

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Ivan Canjuga back at NK Varazdin

The loan is over: 0 appearances and 0 goals away from home, and now the harder question of whether he is wanted here.

Market

Juan Esteban García is back through the door

0 appearances and 0 goals away from home. What he did there is settled; what happens now at NK Varazdin is not.

In brief

92 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at NK Varazdin

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Matheus Pedro hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Roberto Punčec has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Varazdin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Josip Silić

15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Loan watch

Ignacio Díaz has seen enough of Zalgiris

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Varazdin, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Matheus Pedro

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

88 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Roberto Punčec has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Varazdin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Loan watch

Ignacio Díaz has seen enough of Zalgiris

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Varazdin, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The armband comes off Petar Bočkaj

NK Varazdin will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

Squad

Petar Bočkaj knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Varazdin, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Loan watch

5 goals on loan for Juan Esteban García

17 appearances at IMT and the goals keep coming. NK Varazdin are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

Iuri Tavares has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Iuri Tavares keeps the shirt for now, at NK Varazdin's convenience rather than his own.

In brief

84 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Luka Mamić asks to leave NK Varazdin

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Roberto Punčec has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Varazdin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Aleksa Latković stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksa Latković and NK Varazdin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Loan watch

Ignacio Díaz has seen enough of Zalgiris

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Varazdin, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Mateo Barać gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Miloš Cvetković is not saying it is over

“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 38 with 289 appearances behind him, and NK Varazdin have to plan for both answers.

In brief

79 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Luka Mamić hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Istra 1961 are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. NK Varazdin will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Loan watch

9 goals on loan for Mate Antunović

16 appearances at MFK Skalica and the goals keep coming. NK Varazdin are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

78 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 10

14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Miloš Cvetković hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Market

NK Varazdin turn down Zlin for Ignacio Díaz

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Darijan Žarkov

67 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Anastas Arnaudovski signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anastas Arnaudovski commits to NK Varazdin for another 4 years.

Loan watch

Teo Novak wants to come home

“I did not go to Hrvatski Dragovoljac to sit and watch. I want to come back to NK Varazdin and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.

In brief

73 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Matheus Pedro hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Mario Mladenovski gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Luka Mamić linked with a move away

The name of Luka Mamić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

72 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Marcos Carrera asks to leave NK Varazdin

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Miloš Cvetković asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

Matías Morales gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

70 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 10, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Luka Mamić hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Karlo Bručić says NK Varazdin went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Darijan Žarkov

126 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Loan watch

Teo Novak has seen enough of Hrvatski Dragovoljac

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Varazdin, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ignacio Díaz

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

65 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Rüfət Abdullazadə asks to leave NK Varazdin

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

No end in sight to NK Varazdin's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Varazdin has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Oliver Zelenika

55 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

No place for Miloš Cvetković on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at NK Varazdin pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Squad

Josip Silić gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Mate Antunović keeps scoring at MFK Skalica

8 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Match

No goals between NK Varazdin and Lokomotiva Zagreb

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Lokomotiva Zagreb will be the happier side with the point.

Squad

Matheus Pedro makes his debut at 21

At 21 years old, Matheus Pedro became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.

Market

Luka Mamić linked with a move away

The name of Luka Mamić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

61 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Rüfət Abdullazadə asks to leave NK Varazdin

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Ignacio Díaz says NK Varazdin went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Oliver Zelenika

87 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Novak Tepšić

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

NK Varazdin and HNK Vukovar 1991 cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. HNK Vukovar 1991 came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Loan watch

4 goals on loan for Mate Antunović

4 appearances at MFK Skalica and the goals keep coming. NK Varazdin are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

60 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Miloš Cvetković says NK Varazdin went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Ignacio Díaz hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against Rudes

0-1 to Rudes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Luka Mamić

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Novak Tepšić asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Loan watch

Mate Antunović keeps scoring at MFK Skalica

3 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

55 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rüfət Abdullazadə says NK Varazdin went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Gomel come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and NK Varazdin did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Mate Antunović attracts admirers

The name of Mate Antunović has come up in conversations NK Varazdin were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Match

NK Varazdin find a way past Istra 1961

Istra 1961 made NK Varazdin work for it, but the scoreboard read 1-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Mario Mladenovski gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Matías Morales is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at NK Varazdin has been clear about where Matías Morales stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

52 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ivo Kralj: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Varazdin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Josip Kasalo comes home

The shirt still fits. Josip Kasalo is back at NK Varazdin, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Niko Vrsaljko is a NK Varazdin player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Market

Mato Colak comes home

The shirt still fits. Mato Colak is back at NK Varazdin, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Tomislav Kasalo comes home

The shirt still fits. Tomislav Kasalo is back at NK Varazdin, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Stipe Jurić gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Ignacio Díaz

16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Husein Sumbuljević stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Husein Sumbuljević and NK Varazdin agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Petar Bočkaj

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

In brief

48 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lechia watching Juan Esteban García

The interest is real enough to have reached print. NK Varazdin have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Ignacio Díaz out for 47 days

The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Ignacio Díaz, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Mario Marina

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Karlo Špeljak placed on the list

NK Varazdin have made Karlo Špeljak available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Squad

Somebody is after Aleksa Latković’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Aleksa Latković suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. NK Varazdin have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Squad

Silvio Ilinković asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

47 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Luka Mamić

57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

Imotski watching Ivan Canjuga

The interest is real enough to have reached print. NK Varazdin have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

NK Varazdin sell Edson Júnior for $130.0K

Edson Júnior has left for HNK Gorica in a $130.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Luka Mamić gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

NK Varazdin sign Ignacio Díaz, one for the future

Ignacio Díaz is 20, and NK Varazdin have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.

Squad

Novak Tepšić knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Varazdin, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief