Niko Kranjcar is a soccer player from Croatia. He was born on August 13th, 1984, in Zagreb, Croatia. Currently he plays for Tottenham Hotspur, and for the Croatia national team as a midfielder. His talents as a footballer include his close control, his range of passing, his excellent vision, good set piece prowess, and superb technique.



He played for Dinamo Zagreb, and then moved to play for Hajduk Split in 2005. These teams are fierce rivals and they are two of the biggest teams in Niko Kranjcar’s homeland. Afterwards, he transferred to England with Portsmouth in August of 2006. He was sold at the start of the 2009-2010 season, and moved to Tottenham in September of 2009. There he joined his former manager, Harry Redknapp.

Niko Kranjcar has won 54 caps for the Croatia national team, as of November 2009. Given his international debut by his father in August 2004, Kranjcar has been hailed as the next Robert Prosinecki. Most of Kranjcar’s early years were spent playing for Dinamo Zagreb, and at the young age of 17 he became one of the youngest goal scorers in the Prva HNL, scoring on his league debut at the age of 16 for Dinamo. He went on to help them win the Croatian cup and a league title all in 2003. He then lead them to win the Croatian cup again the following season.



Niko Kranjcar quickly became a fan favorite for his abilities, and he started to be compared to French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane. A disagreement with management in 2005, however, led to a transfer to Hajduk Split, which is Dinamo’s biggest rival. In his first season he helped them to win the Croatian title. The world press hailed Niko Kranjcar, after the 2006 World Cup, for his talents. Several clubs showed immediate interest in young Kranjcar. Among those clubs were the Spanish Club Celta Vigo, and Stade Rennais. Rennes bid 4.5 million euros in August 2006 for Kranjcar, but Hajduk rejected the offer saying that they thought they should get more for Kranjcar. He moved to Portsmouth for a reported 5.2 million euros later that same day.  

On the 1st of September in 2009, Niko Kranjcar went to Tottenham Hotspur after Portsmouth agreed. Kranjcar had his debut for Tottenham as a substitute in a home game in which they lost to Manchester United 3-1. Kranjcar made his first Premier League start for Tottenham on the 26th of September 2009, in which they won 5-0. Niko Kranjcar went on to win many other titles and awards, and is known as a great soccer player.