Ivan Leko

Ivan Leko (born 7 February 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach Belgian Pro League side KAA Gent.

Leko started his career with his hometown club Hajduk Split and played there for several seasons, before moving to Spain to join Málaga. In his early senior years, he was loaned to HNK Trogir.

In January 2005, Leko returned for a brief stint with Hajduk; in the summer he joined Club Brugge.

On 15 January 2009, he decided to sign a contract for Germinal Beerschot. After his spell in Antwerp, he ended his career at Lokeren.

Leko made his debut for Croatia in a June 1999 Korea Cup match against Egypt, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Mario Cvitanović, and earned a total of 13 caps, scoring no goals. He was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but played no part in the tournament, as Croatia exited in the group stage. His final international was a June 2006 friendly against Spain.

Leko made his debut as a manager in 2014, with OH Leuven, but he managed club for a season.

In 2015, he became an assistant manager of Greek side PAOK under the coaching staff of Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who was sacked in 2016. For the 2016–17 season, he managed Sint-Truiden; for the next two seasons, 2017–18 and 2018–19, Leko was the manager of Club Brugge. He celebrated Jupiler Pro League and Belgian Super Cup in his first season in Brugge. Also, Leko won the title of Professional Manager of the Year. In October 2018, Belgian police interrogated him for corruption investigation.

In May 2019, Club Brugge and Leko parted ways. The 41-year-old coach had been with the club since 2017. On 1 June 2019, he was appointed at his new club, Al Ain. In December 2019, Leko left club Al Ain after a disastrous home defeat against Al Dhafra. Both sides had agreed to end their cooperation after five months of poor play.