The Curious Case of Barcelona’s Forgotten ‘Croatian Lionel Messi’

Former Barcelona wunderkid Alen Halilovic’s tragic downfall.

Once named the “Croatian Lionel Messi”, former Barcelona prospect, Alen Halilovic, went from a future superstar to a European wanderer.

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Halilovic had one of the most promising starts to a footballer’s career when at just 16 years of age he debuted for Dinamo Zagreb, becoming the youngest debutant for the club. He was regarded by many as having the potential to surpass his fellow Croatian midfielders Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric.

Halilovic continued to break records at Zagreb as he became the second-youngest player in the history of Champions League (youngest for Zagreb) and also became the Croatian First Football League’s youngest scorer.

The youngster got his first cap for the national team the same year after playing alongside Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric during a friendly match against Portugal to become the national team’s youngest debutant.

There is no surprise that this amazingly talented prospect attracted several European giants but the Croatian side managed to hold on to their hottest talent for another season, however, Barca’s interest was eventually too difficult for the club to fend off.

The youngster’s father, Sead Halilovic, was then his acting manager, and when he found out the interest of the Catalan side, he quickly prepared to move his whole family to Spain. Playing for the Catalan giants especially considering the chance of playing alongside Lionel Messi is a dream for any footballer, and Alen’s father had the same feeling.

In Spain, Halilovic was initially placed in the B squad like any other youngster of his age especially to get used to the Spanish culture and truly understand the Barca way. At the time, many believed that Alen had the potential to replace Messi in the future, a truly great burden on a talented youngster just entering the world of football.

Alen managed to play a full season with the reserve squad making 30 appearances during which he scored 4 goals while providing one assist. The Croatian, however, did not make the progress that was expected by the world-class coaches at Camp Nou and his father’s impatience did not help the matter either. Sead hired a personal coach for his son which further damaged the relationship between the club and his son’s future.

Sead felt that his son deserved a spot with the first-team but with midfielders like Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta along with already developing youngsters Rafinha and Sergi Roberto, the club felt that there was no spot for the teen and was ultimately loaned out to Sporting Gijon.

At Gijon, Alen showed his immense talent once again after displaying amazing footwork while proving the high work rate the side needed as they were fighting for a spot to remain in La Liga. The midfielder finished the campaign with 5 goals and five assists.

Sadly, for the player, Barca did not seem impressed with his performance at Gijon and agreed to sell the midfielder to Bundesliga side, Hamburger SV, for a mere 5.5 million euros. Alen struggled to keep his spot at the German side and was soon loaned out back to La Liga but this time to Las Palmas. Back in Spain, the youngster struggled to find consistency after only managing 2 goals in 39 appearances, showing only a few signs of his earlier greatness.

Alen secured a move to AC Milan in 2018 on a free transfer but only managed to play few minutes of football as he struggled to win a spot in the already stacked midfield at San Siro. The youngster moved to Belgium side, Standard Liege, where he played for 14 matches then his latest move was in 2019 when he joined the Dutch side, Heerenveen. He has so far played 17 matches for the Eredivisie side.

Halilovic is still young at 23 years of age and could still manage to achieve the beautiful career he once dreamed of..

Should Barca have remained patient with Alen Halilovic’s development?