Biography
Croat striker Jelavic was signed from Everton in January 2014 to spearhead City’s Premier League survival bid alongside Shane Long. His debut appearance in mid-January against Norwich City was followed three weeks later by his first goal for the Tigers against Sunderland. His four goals, allied with those of his Premier League strike partner Long, were sufficient the secure Premier League survival at the same time that City’s reserve strikers Yannick Sagbo and Matty Fryatt were propelling the Tigers to their first FA Cup Final – Jelavic was cup-tied because he scored twice for Everton against QPR in a Third Round tie that was his last appearance for the Toffees.
At the start of the 2014/15 season Jelavic lost his strike partner Long, who was sold to Southampton for a considerable profit, and played an oddly peripheral role in City’s Europa League campaign as manager Steve Bruce prioritised results in the Premier League. With City’ out of ‘s European odyssey ended by late August, Nikica scored four goals in six league matches but was unable to spark a significant upturn in form. Two consecutive wins in February 2015, both featuring Jelavic goals, lifted City out of the bottom three but another downturn in form saw City end the season with relegation to the Championship. Jelavic’s eight Premier League goals, plus the four scored during the latter half of the 2013/14 season, meant he was Hull City’s highest Premier League goalscorer for many years.
Back in the Championship, Nikica did not cover himself in glory as a series of half-hearted performances betrayed his desire to leave the club. On August 2015 transfer deadline day he got his way and was sold to Premier League side West Ham United for £6 million.
Nikica Jelavic was born in Capljina in what was Yugoslavia and now lies on the Croatian/Bosnian border. His early years were affected by the Balkan wars of the 1990s and his youth team career was spent at Bosnian club GOSK Gabela and Croatian side NK Neretva. During the 2000/01 season Nikica joined Croatian giants Hajduk Split and rose rapidly through the ranks to make his senior debut in the HNL (the Croatian National League) at 17 in 2002. Injuries hampered his progress at Hadjuk but by the 2006/07 season he was an established first team presence, scoring five goals to take his tally to ten goals in 41 appearances over a five season spell.
In July 2007 Hadjuk accepted a 500,000 euro fee for Nikica from Belgian Pro League side Zulte Waragem. He made his Zulte debut in August 2007 against Standard Liege and ended his first and only season in Belgium with four goals in 25 appearances. In July 2008 he was on the move again, signing for Austrian top flight side Rapid Vienna. In Austria he established himself as a potent goal threat, netting his first career hattrick against SCR Altach in November 2008 and making a July 2008 debut in European competition against Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta. In the 2009/10 season he struck 29 goals including nine goals in the Europa League and ten goals in 12 matches during May, April and May 2010. He started the 2010/11 season with Rapid in similarly potent form and took his tally to 43 goals in 95 appearances before transferring to Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers in August 2010 for a £4 million fee.
At Ibrox Jelavic continued his dominant form, opening his account in his second start in September 2010 against Hamilton Academical before fracturing his ankle and missing three months of football. When he returned to first team action in January 2011 he hit a rich vein of form, netting fourteen times in 16 appearances, including a hattrick in February 2011 against Motherwell, as Rangers claimed the League title. He also scored the decisive extra time goal that saw Rangers lift the Scottish League Cup trophy, defeating their Auld Firm foes Glasgow Celtic. Nikica’s form continued into the 2011/12 season but as Rangers descended to financial meltdown in February 2012 they were forced to cash in their best assets and Jelavic left the club in January 2012 having scored an impressive 36 goals in just 56 appearances.
In January 2012 Jelavic transferred to Premier League side Everton for a £5m fee. He rewarded the Toffees with a remarkable three braces in successive starts during April 2012, continuing the hot streak of form he had shown for three seasons. He was an Everton first team regular throughout the 2012/13 season but was regularly used as a substitute during the first half of the 2013/14 season. He left Everton for Hull City in January 2014 having scored 21 goals in 69 appearances.
Nikica joined West Ham United in September 2015 but was again used as a substitute and was soon looking for another move. After two goals in 15 appearances for the Hammers he left the club in February 2016 and signed for Chinese second tier side Beijing Rehne, a club that was owned by one-time prospective Hull City buyer Dai Yongge. During the 2016 season he scored 15 times in 29 appearances as the Beijing side narrowly missed out on promotion to the Chinese Super League. Jelavic spent the 2017 season on loan at Super League side Guizhou Zhicheng where he scored 15 goals in 25 appearances, then made the transfer permanent in December 2017 and scoring twelve times in 33 appearances during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Without a club for the 2020 Chinese season, in September 2020 he returned to Europe and signed for Croatian side Lokomotiva Zagreb, but after only five appearances he retired from playing in March 2021 and was appointed Lokomotiva’s Under-19s head coach.
Jelavic was identified by the Croatia international system while coming through the ranks at Hadjuk Split, making two appearances for the Croatia Under-17 side during the 2001/02 season and two appearances for the Under-18s during the following season. However it wasn’t until October 2009, during his spell of superb form at Rapid Vienna, that he was first selected for Slaven Bilic’s senior international squad, winning his first cap against Qatar and netting an injury time winner. He was an international regular for much of the next five years, playing two matches in the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine then reaching his peak when he received the first pass from kick-off in the opening tie of the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. His final cap came in September 2014 against Malta, which took his tally to 36 international caps during which he scored six goals – five of those appearances and one goal were earned whilst a Hull City player.
Details
Nationality: Croatia
Date/Place of Birth: 27 August 1985, Capljina (Yugoslavia)
Hull City First Game: 18 January 2014, Norwich City A (Premier League), 28 years, 144 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 August 2015, Charlton Athletic A (Championship), 29 years, 360 days old
Clubs
Hajduk Split (2002-2007), Zulte Waregem (2007-2008), Rapid Wein (2008-2010), Glasgow Rangers (2010-2012), Everton (2012-2014), Hull City (2014-2015), West Ham United (2015-2016), Beijing Rehne (2016-2017), Guizhou Zhicheng (2017, loan), Guizhou Zhicheng (2017-2019), Lokomotiva (2020-2021)
Hull City Record
Career: 50 apps, 13 goals
Nikica Jelavic| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 16 (0) | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2014/15 | 21 (5) | 8 | – | – | – | – | 0 (3) | 0 | – | – |
| 2015/16 | 3 (1) | 1 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |