Simon Sluga
Sluga playing for Croatia U19 at the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Personal information
Full name Simon Sluga[1]
Date of birth (1993-03-17) 17 March 1993 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth Rijeka, Croatia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Ludogorets Razgrad
Number 12
Youth career
2003–2008 Jadran Poreč
2008–2013 Rijeka
2011–2012 → Juventus Primavera (loan)
2012–2013 → Verona Primavera (loan)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2019 Rijeka 64 (0)
2013–2014 → Pomorac (loan) 31 (0)
2014–2015 → Lokomotiva (loan) 26 (0)
2015–2016 → Spezia (loan) 0 (0)
2019–2022 Luton Town 91 (0)
2022– Ludogorets Razgrad 20 (0)
International career‡
2009–2010 Croatia U17 5 (0)
2011 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2011–2012 Croatia U19 9 (0)
2012–2013 Croatia U20 8 (0)
2012–2014 Croatia U21 3 (0)
2019– Croatia 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:21, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:22, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

Simon Sluga (Croatian pronunciation: [sǐmon slǔːɡa];[4][5] born 17 March 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Rijeka

In the first two seasons of his professional career HNK Rijeka loaned Sluga to Juventus Primavera and Verona Primavera. During the 2013–14 season he was loaned to NK Pomorac in Croatia's Druga HNL where he collected 31 caps and managed 17 clean sheets. He spent the 2014–15 Prva HNL on loan to NK Lokomotiva where he was capped on 26 occasions. He returned to Rijeka following the end of the loan and recorded his official game début on 19 July 2015 against Slaven Belupo. In August 2015, he was loaned to Spezia Calcio in Italy's Serie B.

Luton Town

On 19 July 2019, Sluga joined newly-promoted Championship side Luton Town for a club record fee of €1.5 million, signing a three-year contract.[6] On 2 August 2019, Sluga made his first appearance for Luton in a 3–3 draw against Middlesbrough.[7]

Ludogrets Razgrad

On 31 January 2022, Sluga joined First Professional Football League club Ludogorets Razgrad.[8][9]

International career

He made his debut for Croatia on 11 June 2019 in a friendly against Tunisia, as a starter.[10]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 November 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rijeka 2014–15[3] Prva HNL 0 0 — — 0 0 0 0
2015–16[3] Prva HNL 2 0 — — 1[a] 0 3 0
2016–17[3] Prva HNL 0 0 2 0 — 0 0 2 0
2017–18[3] Prva HNL 27 0 3 0 — 9[b] 0 39 0
2018–19[3] Prva HNL 35 0 4 0 — 2[a] 0 41 0
2019–20[3] Prva HNL — — — 1[c] 0 1 0
Total 64 0 9 0 — 13 0 86 0
Pomorac (loan) 2013–14[3] Druga HNL 31 0 0 0 — — 31 0
Lokomotiva (loan) 2014–15[3] Prva HNL 26 0 2 0 — — 28 0
Spezia (loan) 2015–16[3] Serie B 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
Luton Town 2019–20[11] Championship 33 0 1 0 0 0 — 34 0
2020–21[12] Championship 39 0 2 0 0 0 — 41 0
2021–22[13] Championship 19 0 0 0 0 0 — 19 0
Total 91 0 3 0 0 0 — 94 0
Career total 212 0 14 0 0 0 13 0 239 0
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, three in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearance in Croatian Football Super Cup

International

As of match played 11 November 2020[14]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2019 2 0
2020 1 0
Total 3 0

Honours

HNK Rijeka

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers: Luton Town" (PDF). English Football League. p. 39. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Simon Sluga: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "S. Sluga: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Simèon". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020. Sìmon
  5. ^ "slúga". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020. Slúga
  6. ^ "THE HATTERS BREAK TRANSFER RECORD TO SIGN SIMON SLUGA!". Luton Town F.C. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Luton Town 3-3 Middlesbrough: Championship season starts with thrilling draw". BBC Sport. 2 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Simon Sluga joins Ludogorets on permanent transfer". www.lutontown.co.uk. 31 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Лудогорец привлече хърватски национал от Англия" [Ludogorets attracted a Croatian international from England]. www.ludogorets.com/bg (in Bulgarian). 31 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Croatia v Tunisia game report". ESPN. 11 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Games played by Simon Sluga in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Games played by Simon Sluga in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Games played by Simon Sluga in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Sluga, Simon". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Luton Town Supporters' Trust 2020-21 season presentation evening". www.lutontown.co.uk. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simon Sluga.
PFC Ludogorets Razgrad – current squad
Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2020
Luton Town F.C. Player of the Year
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