TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian national team defender Justin Hubner has officially joined Fortuna Sittard. He will be joining the club that competes in the top tier of Dutch football, the Eredivisie. Fortuna Sittard has announced the arrival of Justin Hubner on their official website. Hubner comes after his contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers has expired.
Hubner has signed a three-year contract with an additional one-year option. "Fortuna Sittard strengthens their squad by recruiting Justin Hubner. The 21-year-old's contract with the English club Wolverhampton Wanderers has ended this summer, and he has signed a three-year contract, with an option to extend for one year," Fortuna Sittard's statement read.
With Justin Hubner's arrival, the speculation about his future after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers ends. He will be an Alen Halilovic teammate, who was once seen as the successor to Lionel Messi.
In 2014, The Guardian discussed Alen Halilovic's move to Barcelona and labeled him as The Next Lionel Messi, or the Lionel Messi of Croatia. At that time, he was considered one of Croatia's best talents from Dinamo Zagreb.
At the age of 15, Dinamo Zagreb's top official, Zdravko Mamic, mentioned that Alen Halilovic was heading to Atletico Madrid. He even got a chance to play in the Champions League at the age of 16.
According to UEFA.com, on October 24, 2012, Alen Halilovic made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). At that time, he was 16 years and 128 days old, and at that time, he was second only to Celestine Babayaro (16 years, 86 days).
Halilovic then joined Barcelona's youth team. He made his debut with the first team on January 15, 2025, when facing El Che in the Copa del Rey. However, that was his only appearance with the first team of Barcelona in official competition. Halilovic replaced Adama Traore in the 62nd minute. He did not play alongside Lionel Messi, who was absent from that match.
Barcelona then loaned Alen Halilovic to Sporting Gijon before releasing him to Hamburg SV. His fate with Hamburg also did not improve immediately. He was loaned to Las Palmas before being released to AC Milan in 2018.
At AC Milan, he did not get the chance to play regularly. In January 2018, Halilovic was loaned to Standard Liege and Heerenveen. AC Milan did not renew his contract, and Birmingham then recruited him in November 2020. However, in August 2021, Birmingham released him to Reading for free.
Alen Halilovic's journey continued. In July 2022, he returned to his hometown to strengthen HNK Rijeka. A year later, Fortuna Sittard recruited him. Now, in Fortuna Sittard, Halilovic will be a teammate of Justin Hubner, who has just joined after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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