After spending three-and-a-half seasons in the Bundesliga , he was signed by Sevilla in January He scored the first goal of the Champions League final and became the first player ever to win the Champions League a year after winning the Europa League while playing for two clubs.
He retired from international duty in September , having made appearances. At the time of his retirement, he was the fourth most capped player in the history of Croatia. His father and older brother were also footballers. At age 16, his potential was noticed by top European scouts, and went for trials with clubs such as Arsenal , but he and his family decided to stay at Basel to allow him to play more regularly in a smaller league instead.
Although these two matches were the only ones he played during his first professional season with Basel, he went on to establish himself as a regular contributor in his second season, scoring 11 goals in 33 Super League appearances. Also making nine UEFA cup appearances during this time, he was named the best young player of the —07 Super League season along with receiving the Swiss Goal of the Year award for an impressive goal he scored against St.
Gallen on 22 October He then went on to make a total of seven appearances in the —08 Champions League season , [ 18 ] including a strong and very impressive midfield role in Schalke's home fixture against Chelsea in the group stage. He was kept out of action for a month [ 21 ] as Schalke were eliminated from the tournament without him. In total, he finished his first Bundesliga season with 3 goals and 10 assists in 29 appearances. By the end of the season, he made total of 39 appearances for the club, provided six assists and scored one goal in the —12 Copa del Rey.
This turned out to be his only goalless Liga season while playing for Sevilla. On 12 September, he provided another assist for Piotr Trochowski at home in a 1—0 win over Real Madrid. He also finished the season providing ten league assists. In the two last games of September, he scored two goals in a 1—4 away win over Rayo Vallecano , and assisted for the draw 1—1 goal against Real Sociedad. In the last game of December, he assisted in a 1—2 away win against Villarreal , helping Sevilla reach a top ten position after a disappointing start of the season, as well attracting attention from other international clubs.
