*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 September 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:16, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
Born in Zagreb, Oršić started his senior career at Inter Zaprešić in 2009. Following short stints with Spezia and Celje throughout 2013 and 2014, he moved to South Korea. After a successful stint with Ulsan Hyundai, Oršić was bought in 2018 by Croatian giants and his local club Dinamo Zagreb, whom he had supported since childhood. During almost five years at the club, Oršić established himself as a club legend,[6][7][8] helping the club win four Prva HNL titles, and reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League for the first time in its history, and becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer in the UEFA competitions in the process. In January 2023, Oršić moved to Southampton.
Oršić made his debut for the Croatia national team in 2019. He represented his country at the UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, winning the bronze medal at the latter tournament.
Club career
Early career in Croatia, Italy and Slovenia
Coming from the Srednjaci neighborhood of Zagreb, Oršić started practicing football at the age of 5, with NK Zagreb, however, a few months later, the club dissolved its youngest categories.[9] His next stop was the nearby NK Trešnjevka, where his father persuaded the club to let him train, despite not having categories that [9][10] At the age of 13, Oršić moved to NK Kustošija, before moving on to NK Inter Zaprešić in 2008.[10]
Oršić started playing for Inter Zaprešić's first team in 2009. In the 2012–13 Prva HNL season he was the team's top goalscorer in with 12 goals.[11]
He moved to Spezia Calcio in the summer transfer window of 2013, and played 9 games for the club in the 2013–14 Serie B without scoring. The club ended up 8th in the league. He returned to Croatia and joined Rijeka for an unknown transfer fee, where he was subsequently loaned out to Slovenian club Celje from August to December of the 2014–15 season where he played 13 games and scored 2 goals, and then to South Korean club Jeonnam Dragons from February 2015 to January 2016 where he impressed with 9 goals from 33 games.
South Korean K League and Chinese Super League clubs
Jeonnam eventually signed him for €750,000 in the January transfer window of 2016. He did not play a single game for Rijeka. He registered his name as "Orša" (or in Revised Romanization of Korean, "Oreusya") with the K League, because South Korean players had difficulty pronouncing his name.[12]
Oršić spent another half a year at Jeonnam, where he played a further 16 games and scored 5 goals. He was sold to Changchun Yatai for €1.3 million, and he played for the remainder of 2016 in the Chinese Super League, scoring twice in 14 games. He returned to the K League in January 2017, signing for Ulsan Hyundai at the price of €935,000. He played for Ulsan for one and a half years, during which he won a Korean FA Cuptitle, before returning to Croatia and signing for Dinamo Zagreb in the 2018 summer transfer window.[13]
Dinamo Zagreb
"And to correct you, I consider that there is no bigger club than Dinamo."
—Mislav Oršić in an interview with Sportske novosti, after being asked about a move to a foreign club.[14] The quote subsequently entered the club's folklore.[6][15][16][17][18]
On 6 September 2022, Oršić scored the first goal of the 2022–23 Champions League group stages in a famous 1–0 victory for Dinamo against Chelsea at the Maksimir.[23] Following on from his goal against Chelsea, Oršić continued his fine form with another goal the following week against Milan, away at the San Siro. Dinamo would eventually lose the match 3–1.[24] Despite the loss, with his goal, Oršić finally set his record for the highest scoring Dinamo player in European competitions in history, extending his European goal tally to 28.[25]
Southampton
On 6 January 2023, Southampton announced the signing of Oršić from Dinamo Zagreb on a two-and-a-half-year contract,[26] for a reported fee of £8m.[27] On 11 January, Oršić made his debut in a 2–0 quarter-final EFL Cup victory against Manchester City, replacing Adam Armstrong in the 83rd minute.[28] Later that month, on 21 January, Oršić made his only Premier League appearance in a 1–0 home defeat to Aston Villa after he replaced Armstrong in the 84th minute.[29]
Trabzonspor
On 30 June 2023, Oršić joined Trabzonspor subject to international clearance,[30][31] for a transfer fee of €4m including bonuses.[32] A month later, he sustained a cruciate ligament tear during training which sidelined him for most of the 2023–24 season.[33]
On 21 December 2024, Oršić departed the club having had his contract terminated by mutual consent.[34]
On 17 May 2021, he was selected in Zlatko Dalić's 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2020.[36] At the tournament, he did not play a single minute until the knockout phase, when he was substituted on for Rebić in the 67th minute while Croatia were 3–1 down against Spain in the round of 16. He scored his debut international goal and provided Mario Pašalić with an assist to make the score 3–3; however, Spain won 5–3 after extra time.[37][38]
Oršić was selected by Zlatko Dalić and named in Croatia's 26-man squad for the World Cup on 9 November 2022.[39] On 27 November, in the 4–1 group stage victory over Canada, Oršić provided Lovro Majer with an assist for Croatia's fourth goal.[40] On 9 December, in the quarter-final against Brazil, Oršić provided Bruno Petković with the assist for Croatia's extra time equaliser, taking the match to a penalty shootout. Oršić would score his penalty in the shootout, the final Croatian spot-kick before Marquinhos' miss, which sent Croatia to the semi-finals for the second consecutive World Cup.[41] Oršić then scored the winning goal in the third place play-off against Morocco, which ended 2–1.[42][43]
Personal life
Oršić is married to Suzana Krajinović, with whom he has two sons. He has Suzana's name tattooed on his right arm and kisses it in dedication to her whenever he scores a goal.[44]
^Ničota, Tomo (5 January 2023). "Ima većih igrača od Oršića. Ali nitko nije Dinamu donio toliko..."Germanijak (in Croatian). Retrieved 6 January 2023. Jednom je u intervjuu, baš potpisniku ovih redaka, rekao: 'Prvo da vas ispravim, mislim da nema većeg kluba od Dinama', ta je rečenica postala kultna među navijačima, ta je rečenica postala simbolom Oršićeve ere u Maksimiru. Jaka i upečatljiva gotovo jednako kako i njegov hat-trickovi Atalantini i Tottenhamu, golovi West Hamu, Chelseaju, Sevilli, Hajduku...
^"Došao je kao anonimus, a postao Dinamova legenda. Sad je junak Hrvatske". Index.hr (in Croatian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023. "Da vas ispravim, za mene nema većega kluba od Dinama", rekao je u jednom intervjuu u studenom 2019. godine i za sva vremena kupio sve Dinamove navijače, koji su na sjeveru Maksimira izvjesili transparent s tom njegovom izjavom.
