Ivan Leko


Ivan Leko is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Belgian First Division A club Antwerp.

Club career

Leko started his career with his hometown club Hajduk Split and played there for several seasons before moving to Spain to join Málaga CF. In his early senior years, he was loaned to HNK Trogir.
In January 2005, Leko returned for a brief stint with Hajduk; in the summer he joined Club Brugge.
On 15 January 2009, he decided to sign a contract for K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot. After his spell at the Antwerp side, he went on with his career at K.S.C. Lokeren.

International career

Leko made 13 appearances for the Croatia national football team, and was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 World Cup, but played no part in the tournament, as Croatia exited in the group stage.

Managerial career

Leko made his debut as a manager in 2014, with Oud-Heverlee Leuven, but he managed club for a season.
In 2015 he became an assistant manager of Greek side PAOK FC under the coaching staff of Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who was sacked in 2016. A one-season, 2016–17, he managed Sint-Truidense V.V. and the next two seasons, 2017–18 and 2018–19, Leko was the manager of Club Brugge. He celebrated Jupiler Pro League and Belgian Super Cup in his first season in Brugge. Also, Leko won the title of Professional Manager of the Year. In October 2018 Belgian police interrogated him for corruption investigation.
On 1 June 2019, he was appointed at his new club, Al Ain.
On 20 May 2020, Leko was appointed the manager of Royal Antwerp.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split
Málaga
Club Brugge
Lokeren
Club Brugge
Individual