A prolific goalscorer for Croatia at youth level, Nikola Kalinić has still to fulfil his potential in the senior team but he did score a vital goal in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying against Georgia and has made an excellent start to life in Ukraine with FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk after struggling to impress in England with Blackburn Rovers FC.

• Born in Solin, he joined nearby HNK Hajduk Split as a youngster and made his senior debut at 17 before spending the 2006/07 season on loan at NK Istra 1961 and HNK Šibenik.

• With 16 goals for Croatia's Under-17 team and 11 for the U19s, his reputation went before him, and on his return to Hajduk he lived up to it with 13 goals before the winter break and 17 in total, making him the third top scorer in the Prva Liga.

• Uncapped at the time of Croatia's UEFA EURO 2008 squad announcement, he made his senior international debut in a pre-tournament friendly against Moldova before making one brief substitute appearance, against Poland, at the finals; had to wait till November 2010 for his first international goal, in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier against Malta.

• Struck 15 goals in 28 games for Hajduk in 2008/09 as they finished runners-up to GNK Dinamo Zagreb, his tally being one less than Dinamo’s Mario Mandžukić, who topped the Prva Liga goal listings.

• Moved to Blackburn in summer 2009 but was frequently left on the bench and managed just seven Premier League goals in two seasons before switching to Dnipro in August 2011.