 Ćaleta-Car withLyon in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Duje Ćaleta-Car[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1996-09-17)17 September 1996 (age 29)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Šibenik, Croatia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Real Sociedad (on loan fromLyon) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2012 | Šibenik | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Šibenik | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Pasching | 15 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Red Bull Salzburg | 84 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Liefering (loan) | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | Marseille | 103 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Southampton | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | →Lyon (loan) | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Lyon | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | →Real Sociedad (loan) | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Croatia U17 | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Croatia U18 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Croatia U19 | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Croatia U21 | 17 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Croatia | 37 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:27, 22 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:33, 17 November 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Duje Ćaleta-Car (Croatian pronunciation:[dǔːjetɕâletatsâr];[2][3] born 17 September 1996) is a Croatian professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back forLa Liga clubReal Sociedad, on loan fromLigue 1 clubLyon, and theCroatia national team.[4]
Ćaleta-Car was a member of the Croatian squad which ended as runners-up toFrance in the2018 FIFA World Cup.
Ćaleta-Car joinedFC Liefering in 2014 fromFC Pasching. He made hisAustrian Football First League debut withFC Liefering on 25 July 2014 againstFAC Team für Wien.[5]
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During the2017–18 season Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of theirEuropa Leaguegroup, for a record fourth time, before beatingReal Sociedad andBorussia Dortmund thus making their first ever appearance in a UEFA Europa League semi-final.[6] On 3 May 2018, he played in theEuropa League semi-final asMarseille played out a 1–2 away loss but a 3–2 aggregate win to secure a place in the2018 UEFA Europa League Final.[7]
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On 20 July 2018, Ćaleta-Car joined Marseille on a five-year deal for a transfer fee of €19 million. Upon his arrival, Ćaleta-Car was given the squad shirt number 15.[8]
On 29 September 2019, he scored his first goal for Marseille, the equalizer in a 1–1 draw withRennes.[9]
At the start of the2020–21 season, Ćaleta-Car scored a brace againstBrest, converting assists ofFlorian Thauvin, as Marseille won 3–2.[9] At the end of the January 2021 transfer window,Premier League sideLiverpool launched a £23 million bid to secure his services but the move failed to materialize as Marseille didn't have enough time to sign a replacement.[10]
On 1 September 2022, Ćaleta-Car joinedSouthampton on a four-year contract.[11] On 1 October 2022, Ćaleta-Car made hisPremier League debut in a 1–2 defeat againstEverton.[12] In theEFL Cup semi-final first leg againstNewcastle United on 24 January 2023, Ćaleta-Car was given a second yellow card and sent off following a foul onAllan Saint-Maximan.[13] On 1 March 2023, Ćaleta-Car scored his first professional goal for Southampton in a 1–2 shock defeat toGrimsby Town in theFA Cup.[14] He scored his first league goal on 21 April 2023 in a 3–3 away draw at Arsenal.[15]
On 2 August 2023, Ćaleta-Car joinedLyon on a season-long loan.[16][17] Ćaleta-Car made his debut for the club on 13 August 2023 in a 2–1 defeat toStrasbourg.[18] On 8 July 2024, he joined the club permanently and signed a three-year contract.[19]
On 1 August 2025, Ćaleta-Car moved toLa Liga sideReal Sociedad on a one-year loan deal with an option to buy for €3 million.[20]
In October 2015, Ćaleta-Car received a first call-up for thesenior national team for theEuro 2016 qualifying matches againstBulgaria andMalta, as a replacement for injuredJozo Šimunović.[21] He was in the first 27 players team called for theEuro 2016 but was dropped along with midfielderAlen Halilović and goalkeeperDominik Livaković.
In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the2018 World Cup in Russia.[22] On 3 June, he made his international debut in afriendly match againstBrazil, coming on as a substitute forVedran Ćorluka in the 52nd minute.[23]
In June 2019, he refused to be part ofCroatiasquad for2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro, citing exhaustion and the club's demand to take a rest for theupcoming season as reasons. Soon it was discovered that the real reason was a vacation in theMaldives with his club teammateNemanja Radonjić.[24] As a disciplinary action, he was the onlyoutfield player who wasn't given even a minute of playing time in senior Croatia squad's June fixtures againstWales andTunisia and was completely dropped ahead of September fixtures againstSlovakia andAzerbaijan.[25] In an interview withSportske novosti, he denied going on the vacation and said that the sole reason of not participating in the tournament was suggestion of his club coachesAndoni Zubizarreta andAndré Villas-Boas to take a rest instead since hisprevious season was not on the level it was expected to be, partially due to his participation in the World Cup the summer before, and that it was not his personal wish. He also claimed that the Croatia U21 managerNenad Gračan "had lied and had disappointed him", that "it had hurt him to read the lies of the media" about the vacation, and that he accepted senior Croatia squad managerZlatko Dalić's decision to drop him from the team.[26]
He was called up again ahead of Croatia's November fixtures against Slovakia andGeorgia following suspensions of the standard starting defendersDejan Lovren andDomagoj Vida.[27] He was a starter in the decisive match against the former opponent that ended in a 3–1 victory, leading Croatia toqualify for theEuro 2020.[28]
In May 2021, Ćaleta-Car married Adriana Đurđević in a ceremony at the top of theRevelin Fortress in Đurđević's nativeDubrovnik.[29] In August 2021, Ćaleta-Car and Đurđević became parents of a baby son,[30] whom they named Mauro.[31] In June 2022, Ćaleta-Car and Đurđević married in a church ceremony in theSt. Ignatius Church in Dubrovnik.[32]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Šibenik | 2012–13 | Druga HNL | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| Pasching | 2013–14 | Austrian Regionalliga | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 15 | 3 | |||
| Liefering (loan) | 2014–15 | Erste Liga | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | Erste Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | |||||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2014–15 | Austrian Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Austrian Bundesliga | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | — | 37 | 2 | |||
| 2016–17 | Austrian Bundesliga | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 8[d] | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Austrian Bundesliga | 28 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | 19[e] | 0 | — | 53 | 2 | |||
| Total | 84 | 4 | 16 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | — | 130 | 4 | ||||
| Marseille | 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[f] | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | 39 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 9[h] | 0 | — | 38 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23[33] | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 103 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 130 | 5 | ||
| Southampton | 2022–23[33] | Premier League | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 2 | ||
| Lyon (loan) | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 0 | |||
| Lyon | 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 9[c] | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| Total | 43 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | — | 57 | 1 | ||||
| Real Sociedad (loan) | 2025–26 | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 304 | 14 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 57 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 398 | 15 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 November 2021 | National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | 20 |  Malta | 2–0 | 7–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Red Bull Salzburg
Lyon
Croatia
Individual
Orders
Dúje
Cȁr
the Order of Prince Branimir with Ribbon was awarded to Mr. Duje Ćaleta-Car...
Croatia squads | |||||||
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