{"id":573079,"date":"2020-11-23T14:49:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T19:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=573079"},"modified":"2020-12-21T20:02:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T01:02:37","slug":"birmingham-city-sign-croatian-messi-alen-halilovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/11\/23\/birmingham-city-sign-croatian-messi-alen-halilovic\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham City Sign ‘Croatian Messi’ Alen Halilovic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Barcelona<\/a> midfielder Alen Halilovic<\/a> – dubbed by some as “the Croatian Lionel Messi”<\/a> – has joined Championship side Birmingham City<\/a> on a free transfer.<\/p>\n

Halilovic Signs for Birmingham City on Short-Term Contract<\/h2>\n

Croatian Joins Birmingham After Being Released by AC Milan<\/h3>\n

Halilovic is Aitor Karanka’s 12th signing as Birmingham manager since taking over in July earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The Croatian international joins Birmingham with the club eight points off the play-offs. However, Karanka’s side are also six points away from the relegation places.<\/p>\n

The attacking midfielder has had spells with both Barcelona and AC Milan, although failed to establish himself at either club.<\/p>\n

Halilovic burst onto the scene on September 26, 2012, when he become Dinamo Zagreb’s youngest ever player at 16-years-old.<\/p>\n

11 days later, he came off the bench to score the final goal in a 4-1 victory, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Croatian top flight.<\/p>\n

The left-footed player continued to break records – in 2012, he became Zagreb\u2019s youngest Champions League player as well as the second youngest player in the history of the competition, when he came on against Paris Saint-Germain.<\/a><\/p>\n

Moves Around Europe<\/h3>\n

Halilovic joined Barcelona on a five-year deal from Zagreb as a 17-year-old in 2014. However, he played almost exclusively for the Spanish giants’ “B” team.<\/p>\n

After spending a season on loan at Sporting Gijon, Halilovic joined German outfit Hamburg on a permanent deal in 2016.<\/p>\n

Another loan spell followed, this time at Las Palmas, before Halilovic signed for AC Milan in 2018. He made just six appearances for Hamburg.<\/p>\n

Upon joining Milan, the Croatian once again failed to nail down a starting place at his parent club. This resulted in loan spells at both Standard Liege and Heerenveen.<\/p>\n

Halilovic was eventually released by Milan last month, without a single first-team appearance.<\/p>\n

Halilovic will wear the number 35 shirt. The club has also confirmed<\/a> he will not be eligible in time for tomorrow evening\u2019s Sky Bet Championship fixture with Luton Town.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>