Josip Iličić

Josip Iličić is a Slovenian midfielder currently playing for Italian Fiorentina. He was born on 29 January 1988 in Prijedor, Slovenia.

Josip started out his grooming at NK Triglav where he grabbed the ins and outs of football playing. In 2006, he moved to NK Britof youth system to burnish the skills received. Being one of the most prominent and talented players, Iličić caught the interest of Bonifika, where he eventually started his professional career in 2007. He made a fine start with his 3 goals in 24 games for the club in the 2007/08 season.

Ending the campaign with highly promising results, a young footballer decided to try his luck in Slovenian top-flight league with NK Interblock. He netted 12 goals in 55 appearances during a two-year stint at a top-club.

At the beginning of 2010, he joined Maribor getting off to a flying start with his scoring a brace in the UEFA Europa League clash against the Scottish giants Hibernian. He made his crucial goal in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff round against Palermo; this goal impelled the Rosaneri to contract a promising player shortly after. Iličić established himself as a key attacking midfielder and was increasingly deployed in the field against such Italian top teams as Juventus, Roma and Fiorentina.

Having played 97 matches for the Sicilian outfit Iličić moved to ambitious Fiorentina in the summer 2013.

In 2009, Josip Iličić earned 5 caps for the Slovenia U-21 national squad and since 2010 he regularly appears for the national team, amassing 17 games as of August 2011.