Fabian Benko

Born in Munich to Croatian parents, Benko joined Bayern Munich in 2005 when he was seven years old.[1] He progressed through the club's academy side and was awarded an apprentice contract on 3 September 2015. The terms of the contract came into effect in June the following year with the effect of tying him to the club until 2018.[3] In January 2016, Benko was one of five academy players invited by manager Pep Guardiola to travel with the senior squad to Doha on their mid-season tour and later featured in a pre-season tour of China.[4]

Benko then appeared on the bench for Bayern for the first time in their Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb on 12 December 2015 where he remained an unused substitute. Had he taken to the field he would have become the club's youngest ever player.[4] He returned to and featured predominantly for Bayern's reserve side, Bayern Munich II, thereafter but his made his senior debut and only first team appearance on 19 August 2016, coming off the bench for Arturo Vidal in Bayern's 5–0 DFB-Pokal win over Carl Zeiss Jena.[5][6]

On 5 June 2018, Benko was transferred to Austrian Bundesliga side LASK Linz on a free transfer where he signed a three-year contract.[7][8] The following month he was one of 100 players nominated for the Golden Boy award.[9] Benko made his professional debut on 29 July 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute for Peter Michorl in the 3–1 away loss to Red Bull Salzburg.[10]

Benko made his debut for the German U17 national team in 2014. He later elected to represent Croatia at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[1] In September 2016, amid discussion surrounding his international future, the Croatian Football Association confirmed that Benko had decided to continue to represent Croatia.[11][12]