Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hajduk Split they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivica Ivušić 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hajduk Split know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The minutes were not coming at Hajduk Split, so he will look for them at Atyrau. Everybody involved calls it development; for the player it is simply a chance to play.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hajduk Split this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Martín is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hajduk Split people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Zadar have accepted the money. What Hajduk Split do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The offer from Sharjah for Toni Silić was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Duje Matić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hajduk Split the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dinko Horkaš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Emin Hasić 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.
“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 Hajduk Split, and 4 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hajduk Split people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bruno Mišura had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hajduk Split have done the hard part with NK Osijek, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dinko Horkaš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hajduk Split this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Hajduk Split are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Toni Silić
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hajduk Split people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Lucko for Dante Stipica was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Bruno Zdunić is living that version at Hajduk Split, and it tends to show in the first month.
The chase for Bruno Zdunić ended with $940.0K changing hands and Dugopolje out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
NK Osijek wanted more than $390.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Šimun Hrgović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hrvatski Dragovoljac waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hajduk Split is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $3.3M has been paid because Dinko Horkaš is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Hajduk Split have had the benefit of it.
The offer went to Al Wasl this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$940.0K on the table at Dugopolje. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$390.0K on the table at HNK Gorica. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Hajduk Split asked and Dugopolje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Luka Hodak again, and this time the name on the line is NK Osijek. Hajduk Split are listening politely and promising nothing.
Antonio Milić 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Šimun Hrgović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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 Hajduk Split, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hajduk Split this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Šimun Hrgović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Martin Cedidla is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hajduk Split know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hajduk Split have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody at Hajduk Split will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hajduk Split know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
5‑1. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hajduk Split and Cherno More, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Šimun Hrgović has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.49 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivica Ivušić and Hajduk Split agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Šimun Hrgović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Hajduk Split game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Segesta runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hajduk Split know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hajduk Split have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Martin Cedidla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Šimun Hrgović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hajduk Split this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dinamo Zagreb held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Hajduk Split answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Damir Grbic kept it short after the 4‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Nobody at Hajduk Split will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mojmír Chytil. 5‑3 against HNK Rijeka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Ivica Ivušić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Hajduk Split and HNK Rijeka, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
0‑1 against Crvena Zvezda. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Carlos Martín takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Carlos Martín provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A 2‑0 win over Slaven Belupo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Šimun Hrgović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mojmír Chytil.
32 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hajduk Split have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 goals in one match, Marko Livaja on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hajduk Split and Lokomotiva Zagreb.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marko Livaja. 4‑2 against Lokomotiva Zagreb, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Hajduk Split pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leander Dendoncker provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. NK Osijek tried to reorganise, Hajduk Split did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Damir Grbic, on a 5‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutMarko Livaja has become a man the manager trusts
Martin Cedidla 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.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 5 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutMojmír Chytil has become a man the manager trusts
2‑1 against Cherno More, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Cherno More spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Michele Šego 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.
5‑2, and Adrion Pajaziti took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Hajduk Split tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Marko Livaja takes the afternoon — 9.24
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marko Livaja provided it, and the 9.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ivica Ivušić 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.
7 goals in one match, Adrion Pajaziti on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hajduk Split and Istra 1961.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
4‑2 against PSV, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Marko Livaja was at the centre of the description.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.79 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ivica Ivušić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hajduk Split and PSV, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Šimun Hrgović has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Mojmír Chytil was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
3‑6 against HNK Rijeka, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Michele Šego takes the afternoon — 9.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michele Šego provided it, and the 9.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
9 goals in one match, Michele Šego on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hajduk Split and HNK Rijeka.
2 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Dinamo Zagreb on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
16 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Hajduk Split until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Hajduk Split did not have in the autumn.
Match5 Sep 2026
After 5 games, Hajduk Split finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Slaven Belupo; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Hajduk Split will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Hajduk Split will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
A brace, and Marko Livaja takes the afternoon — 9.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marko Livaja provided it, and the 9.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Hajduk Split have paid $10.0M for Mojmír Chytil, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Mojmír Chytil takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mojmír Chytil provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
8 goals in one match, Mojmír Chytil on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hajduk Split and Lokomotiva Zagreb.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Hajduk Split spend $10.0M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $10.0M for Mojmír Chytil, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Add another name to the list: Hrvatski Dragovoljac have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Duje Matić. The answer from Hajduk Split has not changed — yet.
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$10.0M settles it between the clubs for Mojmír Chytil
Slavia Prague have accepted the money. What Hajduk Split do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Hajduk Split have gone to Bodo/Glimt with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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.
Dario Marešić 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.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and NK Osijek had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Hajduk Split did not stop to explain themselves.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hajduk Split have done the hard part with Slaven Belupo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Hajduk Split offered $360.0K; HNK Vukovar 1991 said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Michele Šego and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
NK Varazdin will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hajduk Split were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.50 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hajduk Split people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to HNK Vukovar 1991 this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Hajduk Split have gone to Lokomotiva Zagreb with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slaven Belupo have kept their man, and Hajduk Split go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dennis Hadžikadunić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
$11.5M on the table at Atlanta United FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Roko Brajković, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.18
A mark of 8.18 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Antonio Milić is living that version at Hajduk Split, and it tends to show in the first month.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Antonio Milić is a Hajduk Split player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Marko Livaja at his very best