Ognjen Vranješ


Ognjen Vranješ is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Belgian club Anderlecht.
Vranješ started his professional career at Borac Banja Luka, before joining Red Star Belgrade in 2009. In 2010, he had loan spells with Napredak Kruševac and Sheriff Tiraspol. He then played in Russia for Krasnodar and Spartak Vladikavkaz and in Turkey for Elazığspor and Gaziantepspor. In 2016, Vranješ signed with Sporting Gijón. Later that year, he switched to Tom Tomsk. A year later, he moved to AEK Athens. The following year, he was transferred to Anderlecht, who loaned him back to AEK Athens in 2019.
A former youth international for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vranješ made his senior international debut in 2010, earning over 30 caps until 2018. He represented the nation at their first major tournament, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Vranješ came through youth academy of his hometown club Borac Banja Luka, which he joined in 2000. He made his professional debut in 2007 at the age of 17. On 9 August 2008, he scored his first professional goal against Orašje, which secured his team the victory.
In December 2008, he signed a three-year deal with Serbian side Red Star Belgrade. After struggling to establish himself in the first team, he first went on loan to Napredak Kruševac and then to Moldovan team Sheriff Tiraspol.
On 12 January 2011, Vranješ moved to Russian club Krasnodar.
In December 2012, he joined Spartak Vladikavkaz. In May 2013, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear, which kept him on the sidelines for almost eight months.
After his return to the pitch, in January 2014, he went to Turkish club Elazığspor.
In the autumn of 2014, he was on trial with Czech side Příbram and Swiss team Grasshopper, but did not join either of them.
In February 2015, he moved to Gaziantepspor.
On 26 January 2016, Vranješ joined Spanish outfit Sporting Gijón until the end of season.
In August 2016, Vranješ signed a two-year contract with Tom Tomsk.

AEK Athens

On 22 December 2016, Vranješ moved to Greek side AEK Athens on a contract until June 2019. He was sent off on his debut against Asteras. He scored his first goal for the club in a comfortable home triumph over Veria.
On 18 February 2018, Vranješ scored his first career hat-trick in a victory over Xanthi.
Vranješ won his first trophy with the club on 23 April 2018, when they were crowned league champions after 24 years.

Anderlecht

In June 2018, after months of lengthy negotiations, Vranješ was transferred to Belgian club Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee. He made his competitive debut for the club against Kortrijk and scored an own goal.
Due to poor form and off-pitch scandals, he was suspended indefinitely from Anderlecht's first team and assigned to train with the youth team in January 2019.
On 20 June 2019, Vranješ was sent on a season-long loan to his former club AEK Athens.

International career

Vranješ was a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team for several years.
In August 2010, he received his first senior call-up, for UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against Luxembourg and France, but had to wait until 17 November to make his debut, in a friendly game against Slovakia.
In June 2014, Vranješ was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup, country's first major competition. He made his competition debut in last group match against Iran on 25 June.
In February 2019, national team coach Robert Prosinečki stated that he would no longer call Vranješ up due to many controversies he was involved in the past period, thus ending his international career.

Personal life

Ognjen has an older brother, Stojan, who is also a footballer.
Vranješ has been the subject of many controversies during his career. In August 2010 he wore Delije shirt to celebrate his then club Sheriff Tiraspol eliminating Dinamo Zagreb in UEFA Champions League qualifier, which was construed as provocation. In 2015, he made a tattoo depicting borders of Republika Srpska on his left upper arm, which led to public scrutiny. He later apologized and covered the tattoo up. Because of the tattoo, he had many altercations with BHFanaticos, the largest Bosnian support group. In September 2018, he was sentenced to eight months probation for instigating fan violence over his Facebook page during his time with AEK Athens. Later that year it was spotted that Vranješ had a tattoo of Chetnik duke Momčilo Đujić on his upper right arm, which got him publicly criticized by Bosnian FA and the fans, with whom he already had bad relations. In January 2019, he was once again in center of a scandal, as media reported that he had an affair with Serbian singer Jelena Karleuša, who is married to footballer Duško Tošić.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Borac Banja Luka
AEK Athens