Ivan Leko

Ivan Leko (born 7 February 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port.

Ivan Leko
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-02-07) 7 February 1978
Place of birth Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Shanghai Port (manager)
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)
National team‡
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)
Teams managed
2014 Oud-Heverlee Leuven
2015–2016 PAOK (assistant)
2016–2017 Sint-Truiden
2017–2019 Club Brugge
2019 Al-Ain
2020 Antwerp
2021– Shanghai Port
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 March 2014
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2006

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 CF. 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 K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot. After his spell at the Antwerp side, he went on with his career at K.S.C. Lokeren.

International career

Leko made 13 appearances for the Croatia national football team,[2] and 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.

Managerial career

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

In 2015 he became an assistant manager of Greek side PAOK FC under the coaching staff of Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who was sacked in 2016. A one-season, 2016–17, he managed Sint-Truidense V.V. and 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.[3]

On 1 June 2019, he was appointed at his new club, Al Ain.

On 20 May 2020, Leko was appointed the manager of Royal Antwerp.[4] 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 2nd place finish in the group, with 4 wins and 2 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.

On 1 January 2021, Leko became the new manager of Chinese side Shanghai Port.[5]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 27 December 2020[6]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
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 Present 0 0 0 0 !—
Total 218 108 48 62 049.54

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split

Málaga

Club Brugge

Lokeren

Manager

Club Brugge

Antwerp

Individual

References
  2. Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  3. "Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko interrogated by Belgian police for corruption investigation". total-croatia-news.com. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  4. "IVAN LEKO KOMENDE 2 SEIZOENEN HOOFDTRAINER VAN RAFC!". royalantwerpfc.be (in Dutch). 20 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  5. "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.
  6. "Ivan Leko career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  7. TOM VAN AKEN (13 May 2018). "Club kampioen na een punt in Luik". sport.be. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
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