Sporting Kansas City II has signed 18-year-old Croatian youth international center back Aljaz Dzankic, the club announced today. Dzankic will officially be added to the roster pending league and federation approval.
Dzankic began his youth career with Slovenian outfit NK Maribor and rose to the U-19 level of Slovenia’s most successful club before joining Italian Serie A side Udinese in 2019. He made 16 appearances for Udinese Primavera – the club’s youth side – in the 2019-20 Primavera 2A season, with the team going 9-6-1 when he played in all competitions.
In the summer of 2020, Dzankic returned to Slovenia and joined NK Aluminij in the PrvaLiga – the Slovenian top flight. He made his professional debut for Aluminij against his former club Maribor on Nov. 2, 2020 and went on to make three total appearances for the club’s first team during the remainder of 2020 before heading to Kansas City for the start of the 2021 USL Championship campaign.
While he was born and raised in Slovenia, Dzankic is eligible to represent Croatia at the international level through his grandfather and has made 20 total appearances for the country’s U-15, U-17, U-18 and U-19 sides since his international debut in April 2017. His most recent appearance came with the U-19s on Feb. 17, 2021 in a 2-2 draw with Hungary.
VITALS
Aljaž Džankić
Position: Defender
Born: 3/19/2002 (18 years old)
Height: 6-3
Weight: 185 lbs.
Hometown: Apače, Slovenia
Birthplace: Ptuj, Slovenia
Citizenship: Croatia, Slovenia
Previous Club: NK Aluminij (Slovenia)
Instagram: @aljazdzankic
