Midfielder | Dinamo Zagreb | Croatia

Skinny

Born in Zagreb, Majer joined local outfit Dinamo’s youth academy in 2006. Four years later, at the age of 12, he left his boyhood club and set off on an alternative course to the top.

Having passed through the academies of Dubrava and Trnje, the attacking midfielder finally made the leap to first team football in 2016 with Lokomotiva. He made his debut as a 76th minute substitute in a Europa League qualifying phase clash with Andorran outfit UE Santa Coloma.

Over the course of the subsequent two campaigns he spent with Lokomotiva, the 20-year-old impressed with his creativity and eye for goal. In 62 appearances for the club that gave him his breakthrough, Majer racked up 18 goals and 16 assists.

Acting as a trequartista, linking midfield with attack, Majer is able to flit between the lines and seek out little pockets of space from where he can hurt the opposition. His remarkable close-control and impressive upper-body strength allow him to operate within these tight confines, often to devastating effect.

A return to Dinamo Zagreb duly followed, where he was handed the No. 10 shirt, as is fitting for a playmaker.

2018 has been…

…a big step forwards. We mean that in the sense that Majer has made the big step to rejoin Dinamo, now finding himself there as a first team player.

Then came the big step back. In the first team squad at the Stadion Maksimir he may be, but on the pitch he is not. In fact, an ankle injury that has proved more complicated and serious than first considered has meant that since making his debut in the starting XI on the opening day of the Croatian top flight campaign, the youngster hasn’t made a single one of Nenad Bjelica’s match day squads since.

Rewind to the start of the calendar year, and Majer’s circumstances were decidedly different. Though he may have been ‘slumming it’ in Lokomotiva’s 8,850 capacity Stadion Kranjceviceva - rather than Dinamo’s 35,000+ capacity park - he was playing week in, week out in the top flight. He was even able to bag a neat brace against Dinamo in March.

His exploits at Lokomotiva earned Majer the Croatian young player of the year award.

What next?

Get fit. Then get into the Dinamo starting line up on a regular basis. He certainly has a point to prove at the club.

He will also undoubtedly be keen to add to his single international cap, attained in 2017 as a last minute in substitute in a friendly against Mexico. Majer has the capacity to quickly become an international regular though, if he can get back to his best and playing regularly at club level. That, then, has to be his target for the new year.

C+ Very much a year of two halves