On 20 July2018, Ćaleta-Car joined French club Marseille on a five-year deal for a transfer fee of €19 million. Upon his arrival, Ćaleta-Car was given the squad shirt number 15.
International career
In October 2015, Ćaleta-Car received a first call-up for the senior national team for the Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Bulgaria and Malta, as a replacement for injured Jozo Šimunović. He was in the first 27 players team called for the Euro 2016 but was dropped along with midfielder Alen Halilović and goalkeeper Dominik Livaković. In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 3 June, he made his international debut in a friendly match against Brazil, coming on as a substitute for Vedran Ćorluka in the 52nd minute. In June 2019, he refused to be part of Croatia squad for 2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro, citing exhaustion and the club's demand to take a rest for the upcoming season as reasons. Soon it was discovered that the real reason was a vacation in the Maldives with his club teammate Nemanja Radonjić. As a disciplinary action, he was the only outfield player who wasn't given even a minute of playing time in senior Croatia squad's June fixtures against Wales and Tunisia and was completely dropped ahead of September fixtures against Slovakia and Azerbaijan. In an interview with Sportske novosti, he denied going on a vacation to the Maldives and said that the sole reason of not participating in the tournament was suggestion of his club coaches Andoni Zubizarreta and Andre Villas-Boas to take a rest instead since his previous season wasn't on the level it was expected to be, partially due to his participation in the World Cup the summer before, and that it wasn't his personal wish. He also claimed that the Croatia U21 manager Nenad Gračan "had lied and had disappointed him", that "it had hurted him to read the lies of the media" about the vacation, and that he accepted the senior Croatia squad manager Zlatko Dalić's decision to drop him from the team. He was called up again ahead of Croatia's November fixtures against Slovakia and Georgia following suspensions of the standard starting defenders Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida. He was a starter in the decisive match against the former opponent, that ended up as a 3–1 win and saw Croatia qualifying for Euro 2020.
Playing style
Ćaleta-Car is a strong and composed, natural center-back. His composure and comfort on the ball open him up as a safe back-pass option during midfield play. He also has vision and an eye for moving the ball forward with pace or precise long ball. His performance at the 2018 Europa League and 2018 World Cup impressed many, and caught the eye of several large clubs including Ligue 1's Olympique de Marseille and La Liga's Sevilla FC.
