Ivan Ćubelić signs for HNK Rijeka: a four-year contract for the new midfield reinforcement at Rujevica
Ivan Ćubelić is the new player of HNK Rijeka, the Rijeka club announced on 16 June 2026. The twenty-three-year-old midfielder arrives at Rujevica from Slaven Belupo, and he has signed a four-year contract with Rijeka. According to HNK Rijeka’s official announcement, he is a player who had an important role in midfield in Koprivnica and recorded 71 appearances, two goals and four assists for Slaven Belupo.
The arrival of Ivan Ćubelić fits into the beginning of Rijeka’s summer reshaping of the squad ahead of the new season. The club linked the transfer announcement with its ambitions and the need for additional depth in midfield, while the player himself, after signing, emphasized that he sees the move to Rijeka as a step forward in his career. According to the statement published by HNK Rijeka, after the medical examination Ćubelić said that his first impressions were good, that he had been well received at the club and that he was particularly attracted by the fact that Rijeka regularly sets high goals. He also added that he wants to impose himself on the coach and show that he can help the team with the demands that await it.
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed in the official club communication. According to the available information, Rijeka confirmed the length of the contract and the previous club from which the player arrives, but did not state the amount of any potential transfer fee or additional contractual terms. Such an approach is common in domestic football, especially when clubs want to place the emphasis on the player’s sporting profile and plans for preparations, and less on the negotiating details of the transfer.
A midfielder who arrives in Rijeka after two seasons of affirmation in Koprivnica
Ćubelić’s arrival from Slaven Belupo is important because he is not coming as a player without league experience, but as a midfielder who has already played regularly in the Croatian top-flight environment in the past period. NK Slaven Belupo’s official profile states that Ćubelić was born on 2 June 2003 in Split, that he plays in midfield and that he collected 71 appearances and two goals for the Koprivnica club. HNK Rijeka, in its announcement, also adds the figure of four assists, along with the assessment that he drew attention at Slaven Belupo with good performances in midfield.
Sportnet’s statistical overview shows that in the 2025/26 season Ćubelić made 37 appearances for Slaven Belupo and scored two goals, while the previous season he had 33 appearances for the same club. These data confirm the continuity of playing minutes that was particularly important for the young midfielder after leaving Hajduk’s system and earlier loan spells. In Koprivnica he received the space for senior stabilization, and that is a segment Rijeka can now try to build on in a more ambitious competitive environment.
In its official announcement, Rijeka describes him as a player who had an important role at Slaven Belupo in organizing play and connecting the lines. Such a profile can be useful in a team that during the season must balance between the domestic championship, cup competition and preparatory plans for European ambitions. Ćubelić has not been presented as a finished playmaking leader, but as a player who, through work with the coach and competition in midfield, should fight for his space. His statements also emphasize his readiness to prove himself, which suggests that he also sees the transfer as the next step, not as completed affirmation.
Hajduk’s school, senior appearances and European junior experience
Before arriving at Slaven Belupo, Ćubelić grew up football-wise at Hajduk. In the transfer announcement, HNK Rijeka states that he went through the youth academy of the Split club, that he made 12 appearances for Hajduk’s first team and that he was part of the junior generation that played in the final of the Youth League. It was a generation that, in the 2022/23 season, achieved one of the most notable results of Croatian club football in the younger age categories.
UEFA, in its report from the 2022/23 Youth League final, announced that AZ Alkmaar defeated Hajduk 5:0 in Geneva and won the trophy, while Hajduk thereby concluded a historic appearance in that competition. Hajduk’s official website, in its report from the final, also states that the juniors of the Split club were defeated by AZ Alkmaar in the match for the title of European champion in the junior category. For Ćubelić’s development, that context is important because it shows that from an early stage of his career he was connected with a competitively demanding youth system and a generation that was exposed to the European level.
Back in May 2021, Hajduk announced that the then seventeen-year-old Ćubelić had signed a long-term contract until 2026. That club announcement states that he was a member of the HNK Hajduk “Luka Kaliterna” Academy, that he regularly played for the younger age groups of the Croatian national team and that The Guardian included him among the 60 greatest talents in world football in his generation. These early indicators are not a guarantee of a senior career, but they explain why Ćubelić, from a young age, was a player whose development was followed with greater attention.
His path after Hajduk, however, was not linear. Instead of quickly establishing himself in the first team of the Split club, he had to seek senior affirmation through additional stops and competitive minutes. In that sense, Slaven Belupo was an important environment for him, because it enabled him continuity and a concrete role in top-flight football. The transfer to Rijeka therefore comes at a moment when he is no longer merely a former talent, but a player who already has two full seasons of serious senior experience behind him.
What Ćubelić brings to Rijeka ahead of the new season
For Rijeka, the arrival of a midfielder is directly connected with the formation of the squad for the 2026/27 season. The day before the transfer announcement, HNK Rijeka reported that the team had begun preparations under the leadership of Matjaž Kek, who gathered 30 players at the beginning of the new cycle. The club stated that the team first completed testing and then the first training session, which opened a new period after changes in the coaching staff and playing squad.
At such a moment, Ćubelić arrives as a player who knows the rhythm of the SuperSport HNL, the opponents and the specific demands of the Croatian championship. This is important because summer reinforcements often have to fit quickly into the training process, especially when a club, in a short period, combines physical preparation, tactical adjustment and friendly matches. According to the schedule published by Rijeka, the team will prepare in Rijeka until 24 June, and then it will travel to Kranjska Gora, where matches against Bravo, Brinje Grosuplje and Radomlje are planned.
From a sporting perspective, Ćubelić’s profile can bring Rijeka additional rotation in midfield, especially in matches in which it will be necessary to maintain rhythm, close space between the lines and seek quick distribution forward. At Slaven Belupo, he had the opportunity to play in different competitive circumstances, from matches in which his team had to defend a result to duels in which the midfield had to take on more responsibility in possession. Rijeka will expect him to turn that collected fund of experience into stability and competition within the team.
In his official statement, the player himself did not make big announcements, but emphasized his intention to impose himself through work. According to HNK Rijeka’s announcement, he told the supporters that they can expect great desire, self-sacrifice and readiness to give everything of himself on the pitch. Such a message is common when presenting new players, but in his case it carries additional weight because he is expected to confirm the development path that began at Hajduk, continued in Koprivnica and has now been raised to a higher level in Rijeka.
The transfer in the context of Matjaž Kek’s return
Ćubelić’s signature comes shortly after HNK Rijeka announced the return of Matjaž Kek to the position of head coach. According to the club’s official announcement of 7 June 2026, Kek returned as the most decorated coach in Rijeka’s history, with 274 matches on the bench in his previous mandate. The club recalled that under his leadership Rijeka won the first league title in its history, two Croatian Cups and one Super Cup, as well as that it played three times in the group stage of the Europa League.
The return of a coach with such status changes expectations around every arrival in the team. Players who join Rijeka enter a system in which organization, work discipline and competitive clarity are emphasized. Ćubelić’s task will be to adapt to those requirements and fight for minutes amid competition from midfielders who are already part of the dressing room. For a player of his age, this is an important phase: he is experienced enough that not only development potential is expected from him, but he is still in a period of his career in which he can make a significant step forward.
In its official announcement about the start of preparations, Rijeka stated that on 15 June Kek led the team into a new season after 2926 days since the last time he led the preparations of the Rijeka side. That piece of information further strengthens the symbolism of the summer gathering at Rujevica. Ćubelić’s arrival is therefore not an isolated piece of news, but part of a wider process in which the club is trying to prepare for the season with clear sporting authority on the bench and reinforcements that should broaden the competition.
The schedule brings a quick test of ambitions
According to the schedule published by HNK Rijeka and the Croatian Football Federation, Rijeka will open the 2026/27 SuperSport HNL season on 1 August with a home match against Rudeš. Already in the second round, on 8 August, a home duel against Dinamo is scheduled. Such a start to the championship gives additional importance to the preparation period, because the team will very quickly have to show its competitive level against opponents of different profiles: a returnee to top-flight company and Dinamo.
For Ćubelić, this means that the adaptation period will not be long. Summer training sessions and friendly matches should show where the coaching staff sees him in midfield, whether they will use him as a player for controlling the middle, as a midfielder with greater freedom of movement forward, or as an option who can cover several roles depending on the opponent. Since he had a significant number of appearances at Slaven Belupo, his advantage could be knowledge of the championship and the speed of adaptation to competitive demands.
Rijeka’s schedule in the first part of the season shows that squad depth will be important from the very beginning. A club entering the season with high goals cannot rely only on the starting eleven, but must have players who can raise the intensity, respond to injuries, suspensions and changes of rhythm. In that context, Ćubelić’s signature has both a developmental and a practical dimension: Rijeka gets a player who is still young enough for further progress, but at the same time has enough experience that he does not still have to learn the basic demands of senior top-flight football.
From a former talent to a new opportunity at Rujevica
Ćubelić’s career so far has had several clearly recognizable stages. At Hajduk he acquired a football education and early status as a talent, which is confirmed by the club announcements of the time and international recognition of his potential. At Slaven Belupo, according to official data from the Koprivnica club and statistical overviews, he gained senior continuity and concrete minutes. In Rijeka he now enters a phase in which not only his potential will be measured, but also his ability to impose himself in a more ambitious team.
For Rijeka, this transfer is a logical move in a period when the team is being renewed and prepared for a season with clear result expectations. The club has brought in a player who knows the league, has a development background from one of the biggest domestic football systems and already has enough appearances behind him to be able to compete immediately for a place in the squad. For Ćubelić, the arrival at Rujevica is an opportunity to confirm that the experience from Koprivnica can be transferred into an environment in which the pressure, competition and expectations will be greater.
Whether he will quickly fight his way into the team will depend on preparations, the tactical requirements of Matjaž Kek and competition in midfield. According to what he himself emphasized in the club statement, his first goal is not to create big announcements, but to prove himself through training sessions and matches. By signing him for four years, Rijeka showed that it is not bringing him in only as a short-term solution, but as a player in whom it wants to invest time and development space. The new contract thus opens an important section in the career of the 23-year-old midfielder, but also further shows the direction in which the Rijeka club is assembling the team for the season ahead.
Sources:
- HNK Rijeka – official announcement of Ivan Ćubelić’s transfer and basic information about the contract, career and statistics at Slaven Belupo (link)
- HNK Rijeka – statement by Ivan Ćubelić after signing and the medical examination (link)
- NK Slaven Belupo – official profile of Ivan Ćubelić with data on position, date of birth and appearances for the club (link)
- Sportnet – statistical overview of Ivan Ćubelić’s career and seasonal appearances in the SuperSport HNL (link)
- HNK Hajduk Split – club announcement about Ivan Ćubelić’s earlier long-term contract and his development in Hajduk’s academy (link)
- UEFA – report from the 2022/23 UEFA Youth League final between AZ Alkmaar and Hajduk (link)
- HNK Rijeka – official announcement about the start of preparations for the 2026/27 season under the leadership of Matjaž Kek (link)
- HNK Rijeka – official announcement about the return of Matjaž Kek to Rijeka’s bench (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – official schedule of the 2026/27 SuperSport HNL (link)