Matej Delač (; born 20 August 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish Superliga club Horsens.
Club career Inter Zaprešić A product of Inter Zaprešić youth academy, Delač started to impress very early on and after only a few appearances for Croatia U-15 he attracted attention from bigger clubs across Europe. During summer 2008, Delač went on trial at Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica and came very close to joining them, but the two clubs could not agree terms so he stayed at Zaprešić.
He had his professional debut for Inter Zaprešić in the 2008–09 season on 22 February 2009 against NK Zagreb, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the Croatian first division (at 16 years and 186 days of age). He impressed football pundits in his debut by miraculously saving a penalty from Davor Vugrinec in the 85th minute, contributing to Inter's 1–0 victory and becoming man of the match. Delač continued with good performances and finished the 2008–09 season with 15 appearances, as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.
Chelsea On 11 September 2009, two days after Croatia's defeat at Wembley, Croatian news reports revealed that Delač had stayed in London for a medical examination and was on the verge of signing a pre-contract with Premier League club Chelsea. Reports claimed that Chelsea scouts had been following Delač's performances in the Croatian first division for months and that their Director of Football Frank Arnesen previously went to Zagreb to agree terms of the transfer.
It was announced at a press conference held by Inter on 17 September 2009 that Delač had indeed penned a five-year contract with Chelsea which will come into effect in the January 2011 transfer window.Zapresic claim Chelsea deal over keeper Delac In the meantime, Delač continued playing at Inter, his wages were paid by Chelsea, and he was also expected to participate in training at Chelsea's training ground whenever his Prva HNL obligations allowed.
Loan to Vitesse On 24 August 2010, Delač joined Chelsea's feeder club Vitesse on loan for the 2010–11 campaign. However, after being deployed as a back-up to Eloy Room and appearing on the bench for the majority of the campaign, Delač returned to Chelsea without making a single appearance for the Dutch side.
Loan to Dynamo České Budějovice On 13 September 2011, Dynamo České Budějovice chairman Karel Poborský confirmed that Delač would join the club on loan for the rest of the season. However, on 4 January 2012, Delač was recalled by Chelsea after just making one appearance in a 4–0 league defeat against Viktoria Plzeň.
Loan to Vitória de Guimarães On 17 July 2012, Delač joined Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães on a season-long loan along with Chelsea team-mate Milan Lalkovič. However, after six months with the club, Delač had failed to make a first-team league appearance and therefore returned to Chelsea in January 2013. However, he made one appearance in an early round of the Portuguese Cup, which Vitória eventually won, making him a Cup winner.
Return to Inter Zaprešić On 10 January 2013, Delač returned to boyhood club Inter Zaprešić on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 campaign. On 15 February 2013, he made his Inter Zaprešić return in their 1–0 home defeat against Zadar. He went onto feature thirteen more times for the Croatian side in their unsuccessful relegation fight before returning to Chelsea.
Loan to Vojvodina In July 2013, Delač joined Serbian side Vojvodina on a season-long loan. On 25 July 2013, he made his Vojvodina debut 3–1 victory against Hungarian side Honvéd in a UEFA Europa League qualifying tie. On 11 August 2013, he made his league debut for the Serbian side in their 0–0 draw with Donji Srem. Having established himself as a first choice keeper, Delač played an instrumental role in helping Vojvodina reach play-off round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, where Vojvodina lost to Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol. At the same time he quickly became a crowd favorite. Midway through the first half of the season, Delač lost his place as a starting keeper. By the end of December, he decided to cut his stay in Novi Sad short, and return to Chelsea.
Loan to Sarajevo Preceding his return from Vojvodina, Delač joined Bosnian Premier League side Sarajevo on loan for the remainder of the season. On 1 March 2014, he made his Sarajevo debut in a 1–0 defeat against Čelik Zenica. A couple of weeks later, Delač registered his first clean sheet in Sarajevo's 2–0 away victory over Mladost Velika Obarska. He returned to Chelsea at the end of the campaign after appearing seven times for the Bosnian side.
Loan to Arles-Avignon On 1 September 2014, Delač joined Ligue 2 side Arles-Avignon on loan for the 2014–15 campaign. On 12 September 2014, Delač made his debut for Arles-Avignon in their 1–0 league victory over Tours. Delač fell out of favour whilst at the French side and went onto make ten more league appearances before terminating his loan spell in January 2015.
Return to Sarajevo On 27 February 2015, Delač returned to Sarajevo for the remainder of the 2014–15 campaign. On 14 March 2015, he marked his Sarajevo return with a clean sheet in their 0–0 draw with Borac Banja Luka. Delač went onto register seven more clean sheets, helping Sarajevo win their first league title since 2006.
On 7 August 2015, Delač's loan spell with Sarajevo was extended for a further season. On 26 October 2015, he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, during the international break, therefore excluding him out Sarajevo's plans for the season.
Loan to Excel Mouscron On 22 July 2016, Delač joined Belgian side Excel Mouscron on a season-long loan. On 17 September 2016, Delač made his Excel Mouscron debut in a 3–1 victory over Westerlo. On 27 October 2016, Delač registered his first clean sheet for Excel Mouscron in their 0–0 away draw with Waasland-Beveren.
AC Horsens On 3 April 2018, it was announced that Delač would join Danish Superliga side Horsens in the summer of 2018 on a free transfer when his contract with Chelsea ended. Delač extended his contract until 2025 on August 18, 2022. Delač extended his contract with Horsens until 2027 on 22 December 2023.
International career After earning 8 caps for Croatia's U-17 and U-19 teams between 2007 and 2008, Delač was called up by Croatia manager Slaven Bilić on 30 August 2009 to join the squad as third-choice goalkeeper (behind Vedran Runje and Danijel Subašić) for their 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and England, breaking the record for the youngest Croatian player ever called up for international duty.
Career statistics
+Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsInter Zaprešić2008–09Prva HNL15010——1602009–10Prva HNL23010——240Total380200000400Chelsea2010–11Premier League00000000002011–12Premier League000000—002012–13Premier League00000000002013–14Premier League00000000002014–15Premier League000000—002015–16Premier League000000—002016–17Premier League0000——002017–18Premier League0000000000Total0000000000Vitesse (loan)2010–11Eredivisie0000——00České Budějovice (loan)2011–12Czech First League1040——50Vitória de Guimarães (loan)2012–13Primeira Liga0000——00Vitória de Guimarães B (loan)2012–13Segunda Liga10———10Inter Zaprešić (loan)2012–13Prva Liga14000——140Vojvodina (loan)2013–14Serbian SuperLiga1002060—180Sarajevo (loan)2013–14Bosnian Premier League7000——70Arles-Avignon (loan)2014–15Ligue 211020——130Sarajevo (loan)2014–15Bosnian Premier League14010——1502015–16Bosnian Premier League12000——120Total700906000850Excel Mouscron (loan)2016–17Belgian First Division A23000—50280AC Horsens2018–19Superliga27000—202902019–20Superliga21030—002402020–21Superliga31010—003202021–22Danish 1st Division29000—002902022–23Superliga27000—002702023–24Danish 1st Division27000—002702024–25Danish 1st Division26000—002602025–26Danish 1st Division18010—00190Total23106000702380Career total340018060703710
Honours Vitória de Guimarães Taça de Portugal: 2012–13
Sarajevo Bosnian Premier League: 2014–15 Bosnian Cup: 2013–14
References
External links