Ante Rebic

Full name: Ante Rebic

Date of birth: 21 September 1993

Place of birth: Split, Croatia

Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

Position: Forward

Number: 18

National team: Croatia

Nationality: Croatian

Foot: Right

Agent: LIAN SPORTS

Joined: 02 September 2019

Contract until: 30.06.2021

Ante Rebic is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Milan, on loan from Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, and the Croatian national team.

He began his senior career at RNK Split, and in 2013 signed for Serie A club Fiorentina for an undisclosed fee. He spent most of his time there out on loan to Leipzig, Hellas Verona and Eintracht Frankfurt. Rebić joined Eintracht Frankfurt permanently in July 2018.

Rebić made his senior international debut for Croatia in 2013, the same year that he was voted Croatian Football Hope of the Year. He represented them at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, reaching the final of the latter.

On 2 September 2019, Rebic returned to Italy and signed a two-year loan deal with Milan, which includes an optional buyout clause for a reported €25 million.

After spending the first half of the season on the bench, having played more minutes for the national team than the club, Rebic scored his first two league goals in a 3–2 victory over Udinese on 19 January 2020 , having been subbed on for Giacomo Bonaventura in 46th minute.

Youth career
Ante Rebic started his career playing at youth level for Vinjani before he moved to Imotski in 2008, where he spent two seasons. After his good performances at a tournament in Italy in 2010, where he went with Hajduk Split youth team, Rebic was brought to RNK Split by Darko Butorovic.

RNK Split
Rebic made his debut for the first team against Dinamo Zagreb on 21 May 2011 in the last round of the 2010–11 Prva HNL as a second-half substitute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Ante Rebic scoring the late equalizer. In August 2011, Rebic signed a professional three-year contract with RNK Split. In the 2011–12 season, Rebic scored five league goals in twenty appearances, four of them when coming off the bench. In the 2012–13 season, Rebic scored ten league goals in twenty-nine appearances. Performing extraordinarily well in both club and national team, Ante Rebic drawn much attention from both the media and football world, resulting in interest from a number of clubs, including Fiorentina, Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City.

Fiorentina
On 28 August 2013, Rebic signed a five-year contract with Italian side Fiorentina, for an undisclosed fee. Upon passing the medical exams, he was given the number 9 shirt. He made a debut on 30 September, coming on as a 36th-minute substitute for injured teammate Giuseppe Rossi, in a 2–2 home draw against Parma. During his debut he sustained an injury, causing him to be sidelined for three weeks. Ante Rebic made three more appearances for Fiorentina before he scored his first goal on 8 January 2014, starting and scoring the second goal of a 2–0 Coppa Italia last-16 home win against Chievo Verona. On 18 May, he scored his first goal in Serie A in 2–2 draw against Torino at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, two minutes after replacing Manuel Pasqual.

On 3 August 2014, Rebic joined 2. Bundesliga club Leipzig for a season-long loan deal. After his loan spell with Leipzig ended, Rebic returned to Fiorentina and was given the number 11 shirt, previously worn by Juan Cuadrado, and was used primarily on the left wing. He made his European debut with the club on 1 October in a 4–0 defeat of Belenenses in the Europa League. In their next match in that competition, Ante Rebic was sent off for a reckless challenge in stoppage time in a 2–1 defeat to Lech Poznan. On 1 November, he scored his first goal in Serie A, in a 4–1 win against Frosinone.

After only making six appearances and scoring once for Fiorentina, Rebić was loaned to Hellas Verona on 14 January 2016. However, he failed to score in nine appearances, and Verona were relegated to Serie B. On 20 March, on as a halftime substitute for Giampaolo Pazzini, he was sent off for two yellow cards at the end of a 2–1 loss to Carpi in the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.

Eintracht Frankfurt
Rebić joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a season-long loan on 11 July 2016, reuniting with former national team manager Niko Kovac. After a short battle with mononucleosis, Rebic made his debut on 17 September against Bayer Leverkusen, coming on as a substitute and assisting Marco Fabián for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory. On 5 February 2017 he scored his first goal for his new team to conclude a 2–0 win over fellow Hesse team SV Darmstadt 98 at the Commerzbank Arena. On 27 May, he equalised in the 2017 DFB-Pokal Final, though Frankfurt lost 2–1 to Borussia Dortmund.

On 31 August 2017, Rebic joined Eintracht a second time on loan for another year with an option to buy. Across all competitions, he scored nine goals and assisted three that season. This included two goals on 19 May in the 2018 DFB-Pokal Final, a 3–1 victory that gave his club their first cup since 1988 and denied Bayern Munich to complete their double. At the conclusion of the season, Eintracht Frankfurt exercised their option to purchase Rebic permanently for €2m.

On 10 August 2018, Rebic signed a new contract to last until June 2022. He had been tracked by clubs including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Sevilla, and Eintracht had lost several of their star players in addition to Kovac, who joined Bayern. Two days later, Eintracht lost the 2018 DFL-Supercup at home to precisely that team, with Rebić a 64th-minute substitute.

On 11 August 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a DFB-Pokal match against Waldhof Mannheim, which Eintracht won 5–3.

On 31 July 2013, Ante Rebic was called up for the first time to the national team, ahead of a friendly away to Liechtenstein. He came on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Ivica Olic in the match, and four minutes later he scored in the 3–2 win. He was praised by manager Igor Štimac after the game.

Upon the arrival of the new national team coach Niko Kovac, his former Croatia U21 coach, Rebic was called up for the decisive World Cup play-off matches against Iceland in November 2013. He came on as a substitute in both games, as Croatia secured their spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup by winning 2–0 on aggregate.

Rebic was named in Kovač’s final 23-man squad for the tournament in Brazil. He took part in the opening match against the hosts in Sao Paulo, as a late substitute in a 3–1 defeat. He played the same role in the next two matches as the Croats were eventually eliminated from the group, and lasted only 20 minutes before being sent off versus Mexico in their last match for a studs-up tackle on Carlos Peña.

From June 2015 to November 2017, Rebić was not capped for Croatia. He was named in manager Zlatko Dalić’s final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In the second group match against Argentina in Nizhny Novgorod, he volleyed after a mistake by opposing goalkeeper Willy Caballero to open a 3–0 Croatian win. In the last 16 against Denmark, he had a chance to score near the end of extra time but was fouled by Mathias Jørgensen; Luka Modric missed the resulting penalty but the Croats won in the shootout. Ante Rebic started in the final, and was substituted for Andrej Kramarić after 71 minutes of a 4–2 loss to France at the Luzhniki Stadium.

He scored his third international goal on 24 March 2019 in an upset 2–1 defeat to Hungary in Budapest during Croatia’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. After he had been benched at the club, his drop in form could as well be felt in the qualifying games, which caused a public outcry and endangered his spot in the Euro squad.

Rebic is known for his physical strength and running speed, both on and off the ball; in 2019, he was the second fastest player in the Bundesliga alongside Achraf Hakimi after clocking at 21.81 mph while playing for Eintracht. He is good at dribbling, especially in one on one situations, and protecting the ball with his body strength when challenged. His first touch, however, has been cited as one of the areas for improvement, with the others being accuracy of his passing, crossing, and shots from long range, as well as decision making in high-pressure situations. Tactically, Ante Rebic is versatile and can operate in several positions of various formations. Mainly a left winger in 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1, he can also play as a supporting striker in 4–4–2, while during Eintracht’s 2018/19 season he was an attacking midfielder in 3–4–1–2, forming a fluid goal-scoring triangle with Luka Jovic and Sébastien Haller. Aside from his attacking duties, he has been praised for his willingness to participate in either defensive play or pressing and counter-pressing of the opposition.