The Slaven Belupo Chronicle
Match6 Jan 2027
Slaven Belupo through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Istra 1961, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Leonard Žuta out for 49 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
Dominik Kovačić 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 Slaven Belupo can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Sven Šunta, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.94
A mark of 7.94 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
A $1.1M sale, and a town that did not want it
Antonio Jakir has gone, the accounts have $1.1M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Richard Olise arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Richard Olise has, at Slaven Belupo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market11 Jan 2027
Business is business: Antonio Jakir goes
Dinamo Zagreb paid $1.1M and Slaven Belupo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Slaven Belupo
Ljuban Crepulja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Per Kloosterboer signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Per Kloosterboer commits to Slaven Belupo for another 5 years.
In brief
- Transfer targets Dugopolje tell Slaven Belupo: Bruno Zdunić is not for sale
- The terraces The crowd has taken to Sven Šunta
- Player ratings A masterclass from Alen Grgić