| Nikola Moro | |
| Birth Date: | 1998 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Split, Croatia |
| Height: | 1.83 m[1] |
| Position: | Defensive midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Bologna |
| Clubnumber: | 6 |
| Youthyears1: | 2004–2009 |
| Youthclubs1: | Solin |
| Youthyears2: | 2009–2014 |
| Youthclubs2: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Years1: | 2014–2019 |
| Clubs1: | Dinamo Zagreb II |
| Caps1: | 30 |
| Goals1: | 7 |
| Years2: | 2016–2020 |
| Clubs2: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Caps2: | 87 |
| Goals2: | 10 |
| Years3: | 2020–2023 |
| Clubs3: | Dynamo Moscow |
| Caps3: | 58 |
| Goals3: | 4 |
| Years4: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs4: | → Bologna (loan) |
| Caps4: | 26 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2023– |
| Clubs5: | Bologna |
| Caps5: | 23 |
| Goals5: | 1 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2012 |
| Nationalteam1: | Croatia U14 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2013 |
| Nationalteam2: | Croatia U15 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2014 |
| Nationalteam3: | Croatia U16 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2014–2015 |
| Nationalteam4: | Croatia U17 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 17 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 7 |
| Nationalyears5: | 2014–2015 |
| Nationalteam5: | Croatia U18 |
| Nationalcaps5: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals5: | 1 |
| Nationalyears6: | 2016–2017 |
| Nationalteam6: | Croatia U19 |
| Nationalcaps6: | 12 |
| Nationalgoals6: | 2 |
| Nationalyears7: | 2017–2021 |
| Nationalteam7: | Croatia U21 |
| Nationalcaps7: | 24 |
| Nationalgoals7: | 6 |
| Nationalyears8: | 2022– |
| Nationalteam8: | Croatia |
| Nationalcaps8: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals8: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:42, 24 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Ntupdate: | 15:53, 29 March 2022 (UTC) |
Nikola Moro (pronounced as /it/;[2] [3] born 12 March 1998) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Bologna and the Croatia national team.
Aged six, he started football, moving to Zagreb aged 11.[4] A Hajduk Split fan in his early days in Solin,[4] Nikola's father Miro yearned for him to contemplate a career at the Hajduk academy,[5] but he went to the Dinamo Zagreb academy instead. Nikola joined the senior Dinamo Zagreb team from the youth academy in 2014.[6]
Moro played a full 90 minutes in his league debut for his senior team versus Lokomotiva in May 2016.[7] He made his Champions League debut on 7 December, in a 2–0 away defeat to Juventus.[8] [9] On 22 February 2017, he signed a new contract until 2022.[10] [11]
On 27 March 2018, in an international match against Moldova U21, he suffered a severe injury after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.[12] He came back to the team on 26 September for the Croatian Cup game against Sloga Mravince.[13] He made his Europa League debut on 14 February 2019 in a 2–1 away defeat to Viktoria Plzeň.[14]
On 6 November, in a decisive Champions League home game against Shakhtar Donetsk, he was sent off in the 74th minute with Shakhtar scoring a late equalizer for 3–3 to deny Dinamo a direct qualification for the knockout phase.[15] [16] [17]
On 17 August 2020, he signed a five-year contract with Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow.[18] He made his debut two days later in a 2–0 victory over Rostov, coming on for Daniil Fomin in the 69th minute.[19] [20] On 18 October, he scored his first goal for the club as Dynamo lost 3–1 to CSKA Moscow.[21]
On 29 August 2022, Moro joined Bologna in Italy on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season, with an option to buy.[22] On 2 July 2023, Bologna exercised their option and made the transfer permanent.[23]
Representing Croatia at U16, U17 and U19 level, Nikola Moro made the quarter-finals of the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup eventually losing to Mali.[24] [25] He also represented Croatia U21 at the 2019 and 2021 UEFA Under-21 Euros,[26] [27] [28] captaining the team to the quarter-finals of the latter tournament for the first time in their history.[29] [30] [31]
On 17 May 2021, Moro was named in the preliminary 34-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2020,[32] but did not make the final 26.[33] He earned his first call-up to the senior Croatia team on 16 August 2021, ahead of the September World Cup qualifiers against Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.[34] However, he did not debut until 29 March 2022, when he made an appearance in a friendly 2–1 victory over Bulgaria.[35] [36]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb II | 2015–16 | Druga HNL | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 13 | 5 | — | — | — | 13 | 5 | ||||||
| 2018–19 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | 5 | 2 | ||||||
| Total | 30 | 7 | — | — | — | 30 | 7 | ||||||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2015–16 | Prva HNL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 30 | 4 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 24 | 3 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 28 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 2 | |||
| Total | 87 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 115 | 10 | |||
| Dynamo Moscow | 2020–21 | Russian Premier League | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 3 | ||
| 2021–22 | 28 | 1 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 2 | |||||
| 2022–23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 58 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 66 | 5 | ||||
| Bologna (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | |||
| Bologna | 2023–24 | Serie A | 23 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 2 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 55 | 3 | |||||
| Career total | 224 | 23 | 23 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 266 | 25 | |||
Dinamo Zagreb
2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
Individual