Franjo Prce (Croatian pronunciation: [frǎːɲo př̩ːtse];[1][2] born 7 January 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bulgarian First League club Spartak Varna.

Franjo Prce
Prce lining up with Croatia U19 in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-01-07) 7 January 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Spartak Varna
Number 4
Youth career
2006–2008 Omladinac Vranjic
2008–2014 Hajduk Split
2014–2015 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Lazio 1 (0)
2016Salernitana (loan) 0 (0)
2017Brescia (loan) 7 (0)
2018Istra 1961 (loan) 16 (0)
2018–2019 Omonia 17 (1)
2019 Karpaty Lviv 0 (0)
2019–2020 Varaždin 8 (0)
2020–2021 Slaven Belupo 20 (1)
2021–2022 East Bengal 15 (1)
2022–2024 Koper 32 (1)
2024– Spartak Varna 12 (0)
International career
2012 Croatia U16 7 (0)
2012–2013 Croatia U17 23 (1)
2013–2014 Croatia U18 3 (0)
2014–2015 Croatia U19 7 (0)
2017 Croatia U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 October 2024

Club career

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Born in Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prce played with the youth academy of Croatian club Hajduk Split. However, after the club's reluctance to hand him a professional contract and instead used him in the reserve team, he refused to sign a contract extension proposal.[3] On 16 August 2014, he moved to Italian club Lazio for 300,000 and signed a professional contract.[3] He featured 27 times for the Lazio Primavera during the 2014–15 season, with his team finishing runners-up to Torino in the Supercoppa Primavera.[4] On 13 January 2016, he was loaned out to Salernitana.[4]

On 23 October 2016, Prce made his first team debut for Lazio, replacing Felipe Anderson in a 2–2 draw against Torino in Serie A.[5] On 12 January 2017, he joined Brescia on a loan deal till June 2018.[6] After being used sparingly, he was recalled from his loan deal by his parent club.[7]

On 31 January 2018, Prce moved to Croatian club Istra 1961 again on a loan deal.[8] On 17 July 2018, he moved abroad and joined Cypriot club AC Omonia on a three-year contract.[9] On 25 August, he made his debut, and also scored a goal in a 1–0 victory over Alki Oroklini.[10]

On 15 September 2021, East Bengal announced that Prce had joined the Indian Super League club on a one-year deal.[11][12] He made his debut on 21 November against Jamshedpur FC in a 1–1 draw.

International career

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Prce was included in the Croatian under-17 team for the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[13] He also featured for the team in the 2013 FIFA under-17 World Cup.[14] On 18 March 2017, he was called to the Croatian under-21 team for a friendly match against Slovenia.[15]

Career statistics

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As of 6 July 2022[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Lazio 2014–15[16] Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16[16] Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016–17[16] Serie A 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Salernitana (loan) 2015–16[16] Serie B 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brescia (loan) 2016–17[16] Serie B 7 0 0 0 7 0
Istar 1961 (loan) 2017–18[16] Prva HNL 16 0 0 0 2[a] 0 18 0
Omonia 2018–19[16] Cypriot First Division 17 1 2 1 19 2
Varaždin 2019–20[16] Prva HNL 8 0 2 0 10 0
Slaven Belupo 2020–21[16] Prva HNL 20 1 1 0 21 1
East Bengal 2021–22[16] Indian Super League 15 1 0 0 15 1
Career total 84 3 5 1 2 0 91 4
  1. ^ Appearances in promotion play-offs

References

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  1. ^ "Fránjo". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Fránjo
  2. ^ "pr̀coljak". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Pŕce
  3. ^ a b "Franjo Prce odlazi u Lazio, bijelima oko 2 milijuna kuna" [Franjo Prce goes to Lazio, about two million for white] (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Una forza fresca da Formello, ecco chi è Franjo Prce" [A fresh force from Formello, that's who Franjo Prce is] (in Italian). Salergranata. 13 January 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Franjo Prce debitirao za Lazio!" [Franjo Prce debuted for Lazio!] (in Italian). Dalmatinski Portal. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Franjo Prce è un nuovo giocatore biancazzurro" [Franjo Prce is a new biancazzurro player] (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  7. ^ "UFFICIALE - Calciomercato Lazio, dal Brescia torna Prce" [OFFICIAL - Calciomercato Lazio, from Brescia back Prce] (in Italian). Lalaziosiamoni. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Franjo Prce postao igrač Istre 1961, Lazio posudio stopera pulskom prvoligašu" [Franjo Prce became Istrian player in 1961, Lazio loaned a stopper to the Pula first round] (in Croatian). Sportcom. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Ποδοσφαιριστής της ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ ο Franjo Prce" [Footballer of OMONIA Franjo Prce] (in Greek). AC Omonia. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Franjo Prce... ΠΡΩΤΟ!" [Franjo Prce ... FIRST!] (in Greek). Kerkida. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  11. ^ "SC East Bengal Rope In Former Lazio Defender Franjo Prce". SC East Bengal Media Team. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  12. ^ "INDIAN FOOTBALL TRANSFER NEWS/ DAILY NEWS (2021)". kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Idući tjedan hrvatska U-17 reprezentacija putuje na turnir u Japanu, a izbornik Ivan Gudelj definirao je konačnu listu kandidata" [Next week, the Croatian U-17 team travels to the tournament in Japan, and the Ivan Gudelj menu defines the final list of candidates.] (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  14. ^ "Wonderkid Halilović to Lead Croatia at U-17 FIFA World Cup". Croatia Week. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  15. ^ "U21: Gračan objavio popis igrača za prijateljsku utakmicu sa Slovenijom" [U21: Gracan announced the list of players for a friendly match with Slovenia] (in Croatian). Nogomet Plus. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "F. Prce". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
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