Franjo Prce

Franjo Prce
	Prce lining up with Croatia U19 in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	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
2015–2018	Lazio
2016	→ Salernitana (loan)
2017	→ Brescia (loan)
2018	→ Istra 1961 (loan)
2018–2019	Omonia
2019	Karpaty Lviv
2019–2020	Varaždin
2020–2021	Slaven Belupo
2021–2022	East Bengal
2022–2024	Koper
2024–	Spartak Varna
International career
2012	Croatia U16
2012–2013	Croatia U17
2013–2014	Croatia U18
2014–2015	Croatia U19
2017	Croatia U21
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 August 2024

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

Club career

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

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

As of 6 July 2022^[16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	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

^ Appearances in promotion play-offs

References

^ "Fránjo". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Fránjo
^ "pr̀coljak". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Pŕce
^ ^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.
^ ^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.
^ "Franjo Prce debitirao za Lazio!" [Franjo Prce debuted for Lazio!] (in Italian). Dalmatinski Portal. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
^ "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.
^ "UFFICIALE - Calciomercato Lazio, dal Brescia torna Prce" [OFFICIAL - Calciomercato Lazio, from Brescia back Prce] (in Italian). Lalaziosiamoni. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
^ "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.
^ "Ποδοσφαιριστής της ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ ο Franjo Prce" [Footballer of OMONIA Franjo Prce] (in Greek). AC Omonia. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
^ "Franjo Prce... ΠΡΩΤΟ!" [Franjo Prce ... FIRST!] (in Greek). Kerkida. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "SC East Bengal Rope In Former Lazio Defender Franjo Prce". SC East Bengal Media Team. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
^ "INDIAN FOOTBALL TRANSFER NEWS/ DAILY NEWS (2021)". kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "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.
^ "Wonderkid Halilović to Lead Croatia at U-17 FIFA World Cup". Croatia Week. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "F. Prce". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2018.