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Ivan Leko

Ivan Leko
Leko with Hajduk Split in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-02-07) 7 February 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Standard Liège (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 Hajduk Split 143 (33)
1996 → HNK Trogir (loan) 7 (3)
2001–2005 Málaga 79 (4)
2005 Hajduk Split 14 (3)
2005–2009 Club Brugge 98 (21)
2009 → Germinal Beerschot (loan) 30 (4)
2009–2014 Lokeren 122 (12)
Total 493 (80)
International career
1993–1994 Croatia U16 2 (0)
1993 Croatia U17 4 (0)
1994–1995 Croatia U18 3 (1)
1994–1995 Croatia U19 4 (0)
1998 Croatia U20 1 (0)
1994–2000 Croatia U21 21 (5)
2001 Croatia B 1 (0)
1999–2006 Croatia 13 (0)
Managerial career
2014 OH Leuven
2015–2016 PAOK (assistant)
2016–2017 Sint-Truiden
2017–2019 Club Brugge
2019 Al-Ain
2020 Antwerp
2021–2022 Shanghai Port
2023 Hajduk Split
2024– Standard Liège
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ivan Leko (born 7 February 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach Belgian Pro League side Standard Liège.

Club career

Leko started his career with his hometown club Hajduk Split and played there for several seasons, before moving to Spain to join Málaga. In his early senior years, he was loaned to HNK Trogir.[1]

In January 2005, Leko returned for a brief stint with Hajduk; in the summer he joined Club Brugge.

On 15 January 2009, he decided to sign a contract for Germinal Beerschot. After his spell in Antwerp, he ended his career at Lokeren.

International career

Leko made his debut for Croatia in a June 1999 Korea Cup match against Egypt, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Mario Cvitanović, and earned a total of 13 caps, scoring no goals.[2] He was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 World Cup, but played no part in the tournament, as Croatia exited in the group stage. His final international was a June 2006 friendly against Spain.[3]

Managerial career

Leko made his debut as a manager in 2014, with OH Leuven, but he managed club for a season.

In 2015, he became an assistant manager of Greek side PAOK under the coaching staff of Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who was sacked in 2016. For the 2016–17 season, he managed Sint-Truiden; for the next two seasons, 2017–18 and 2018–19, Leko was the manager of Club Brugge. He celebrated Jupiler Pro League and Belgian Super Cup in his first season in Brugge. Also, Leko won the title of Professional Manager of the Year. In October 2018, Belgian police interrogated him for corruption investigation.[4]

In May 2019, Club Brugge and Leko parted ways. The 41-year-old coach had been with the club since 2017.[5] On 1 June 2019, he was appointed at his new club, Al Ain. In December 2019, Leko left club Al Ain after a disastrous home defeat against Al Dhafra. Both sides had agreed to end their cooperation after five months of poor play.[6]

On 20 May 2020, Leko was appointed the manager of Royal Antwerp.[7] Taking over the team from Laszlo Bölöni, he led the team to win their first Belgian Cup since 1992, with a 1–0 win against his former side Club Brugge in the final. This earned Antwerp a qualification in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time in the club's history, where they were drawn in Group J against Tottenham Hotspur, LASK Linz and Ludogorets Razgrad. Leko led the team to a surprising second place finish in the group, with four wins and two losses, culminating in a 1–0 home victory against Tottenham on 29 October; as a result, the team qualified for the round of 32, where they were drawn against Rangers. In December 2020, Leko left Royal Antwerp and moved to Shanghai Port,[8][9][10] where he took up his new post with the Chinese team, under a two-year contract worth five million euros.[11][12] In February 2021, Leko was introduced as the new head coach of Shanghai Port at the SAIC Motor Pudong Arena.[13]

On 31 December 2022, he returned to Croatia to coach his former club Hajduk Split; however, he was dismissed on 23 October 2023.[14] On 4 January 2024, he became head coach of Belgian side Standard Liège.[15]

Investigation

In October 2018, while at Club Brugge, Leko was interrogated by Belgian police as part of a corruption investigation.[16][17][18] In the subsequent court case, the judge demanded to know why Leko had received a payment from Dejan Veljkovic's Cypriot account in 2015.[19] In June 2019, Leko was interrogated all day as part of the investigation into fraud in Belgian football, but was later released.[20][21]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 31 August 2024[22]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
OH Leuven 26 February 2014 28 November 2014 32 16 7 9 050.00
Sint-Truiden 1 July 2016 8 June 2017 44 16 8 20 036.36
Club Brugge 8 June 2017 2 June 2019 99 53 24 22 053.54
Al-Ain 2 June 2019 21 December 2019 17 9 5 3 052.94
Antwerp 20 May 2020 29 December 2020 26 14 4 8 053.85
Shanghai Port 1 January 2021 1 December 2022 58 32 12 14 055.17
Hajduk Split 31 December 2022 23 October 2023 37 22 4 11 059.46
Standard Liège 1 January 2024 present 25 5 9 11 020.00
Total 338 167 73 98 049.41

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split

Málaga

Club Brugge

Lokeren

Manager

Club Brugge

Antwerp

Hajduk Split

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Slobodnadalmacija". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  2. ^ Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko interrogated by Belgian police for corruption investigation". total-croatia-news.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Club Brugge bevestigt vertrek Ivan Leko, deur staat wagenwijd open voor Philippe Clement". standaard.be. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Al Ain and Ivan Leko part by 'mutual consent' after poor Arabian Gulf League run". sport360.com. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. ^ "IVAN LEKO KOMENDE 2 SEIZOENEN HOOFDTRAINER VAN RAFC!". royalantwerpfc.be (in Dutch). 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Rangers handed Europa League boost as Royal Antwerp lose their manager to Shanghai SIPG". heraldscotland.com. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Rangers' Europa League opponents Royal Antwerp lose manager Ivan Leko". scotsman.com. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Officieel: Ivan Leko verlaat Antwerp voor Chinees avontuur". sporza.be. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Le contrat mirobolant qui attend Ivan Leko en Chine". 7sur7.be. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  12. ^ "官方：克罗地亚籍主教练伊万-莱科执教上海上港" (in Chinese). zhibo8.cc. 1 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Ivan Leko unveiled as head coach of CSL side Shanghai Port". china.org.cn. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Ivan Leko Sacked, Mislav Karoglan Returns as Hajduk coach". Total Croatia News. 23 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Ivan LEKO nieuwe T1 van de Rouches" (in Dutch). Standard Liège. 4 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Club Brugge Coach Ivan Leko Interrogated by Belgian Police for Corruption Investigation". total-croatia-news.com. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Opgepakte Ivan Leko is wereldnieuws: imagoschade voor Club Brugge is nu al enorm". nieuwsblad.be. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Bonne nouvelle pour Ivan Leko". walfoot.be. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Club Brugge-trainer Ivan Leko ontving in 2015 geld van Dejan Veljkovic". demorgen.be. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Ex-Club Brugge-trainer Ivan Leko buiten na verhoor, advocaat ontkent dat verhoor over transfers ging". vrt.be. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Ivan Leko aurait reçu de l'argent lors de transferts et pour aligner certains joueurs". rtbf.be. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Ivan Leko career sheet". footballdatabase. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  23. ^ TOM VAN AKEN (13 May 2018). "Club kampioen na een punt in Luik". sport.be. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
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