Deni Jurić (born 3 September 1997) is a Croatian-Australian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Slovenian club Koper, on loan from Prva HNL club Dinamo Zagreb. He is the younger brother of Australian international Tomi Jurić.[1][2]
Although born in Australia, Deni grew up playing his early career in Croatia, partly due to his Croatian origin, which began with the Sesvete club. He later joined the youth team of Hajduk Split for a season as well as playing in Slovenia for Triglav Kranj.[3][4] He later wandered through Croatian clubs in the second division, Solin and Rudeš before moving to top-flight once more, joining for Šibenik where he played alongside another fellow Croatian Australian Doni Grdić.[3]
In 2021, he was signed by Dinamo Zagreb, making him the first-ever Australian soccer player since Mark Viduka, also another famous Croatian Australian, to play for the club. He was also loaned to his former club Šibenik, representing the team in only four matches.[3]
Deni had played for both Croatian and Australian youth levels, as he carries the nationalities of both countries. In 2021, he has expressed interest in representing Croatia, although he remains open to the potential opportunity to represent Australia; he is also available to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina due to his parents are Bosnian Croats.[5]