Elvir Baljić (born 8 July 1974) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player.
As a player, Baljić's biggest success was winning the UEFA Champions League with Spanish giant Real Madrid in the 1999–2000 season. Apart from the UEFA Champions League success, he also won the Turkish Süper Lig with Fenerbahçe in the 2000–01 season.
After ending his playing career, he became an assistant manager of Safet Sušić at the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, with whom he qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was then, the manager of back then TFF First League club Karabükspor in 2015. After Karabükspor, Baljić was also an assistant of Sušić at Alanyaspor in 2017 and at Akhisarspor in 2018.
On 1 October 2019, he was named the new manager of Bosnian Premier League club Tuzla City, officially taking over that position a day later. He left the club on 9 March 2020, terminating his contract.
Club career
Early career
Born in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia, Baljić began his career with hometown club Željezničar, but in 1993, during the Bosnian War, he signed for FK Sarajevo. During his time with Sarajevo, he played eleven games, and scored eight goals.
Later, he moved to Turkey where he played for Bursaspor. Baljić was the best player at the club for several seasons, which made him an interesting target for the best Turkish clubs.
Fenerbahçe
In the summer of 1998, Baljić signed a contract with Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for a €9.3 million transfer fee. He spent a season at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium scoring 18 goals in 30 appearances as the club finished the season in third place.
Real Madrid
Baljić's stellar performances at Fenerbahçe made the 25-year-old a target for various European clubs. Still, his €26 million transfer to Real Madrid under club president Lorenzo Sanz during summer 1999 caused a major surprise. The signing was initiated by Real Madrid's head coach John Toshack who knew Baljić well from Istanbul as the Welshman coached Beşiktaş while the Bosnian starred for Fenerbahçe. For more than a decade, the transfer fee paid by Real to Fenerbahçe for Baljić stood as the biggest sum of money paid for a player from ex-Yugoslavia, until Edin Džeko's January 2011 move from VfL Wolfsburg to Manchester City for £27 million (€32 million).
Just before the start of the 1999-2000 season in Spanish top flight, Baljić suffered rupture of both pairs of cruciate ligaments in his left knee, anterior (ACL) and posterior (PCL), after which he underwent surgery and was put off the field for prolonged rehabilitation. Subsequent loss of form caused Baljić's Real stint to turn sour pretty much immediately. Throughout the 1999–00 season, he made only 11 league appearances (8 of them as substitute), scoring just 1 goal. He never managed to secure a first team place, and the November 1999 sacking of Toshack followed by the arrival of new head coach Vicente del Bosque, marginalized Baljić even further. At the season's end, del Bosque included Baljić in the 18-man squad he took to Paris for the 2000 Champions League Final, but did not give him a single minute of action as Real beat compatriots Valencia CF.
During the 2000 summer transfer window, Baljić was sent back to Fenerbahçe on a loan deal.
Loan spells at Fenerbahçe and Rayo Vallecano
Baljić spent the entire 2000–01 season back at his old stomping grounds with Fenerbahçe. He simultaneously managed to recover some of his old form with 5 goals in 27 league appearances as Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Süper Lig.
In the following 2001–02 season, he got a chance to showcase his abilities closer to the club that still held his rights as he got loaned to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, based within the city of Madrid. Baljić actually insisted on joining Rayo due to its proximity to Real as he had his eye on getting a fresh opportunity with the big club in the future. For their part, Real Madrid obliged and managed to hammer out a loan deal with Rayo. Also, there he joined countrymen and friends Elvir Bolić and Emir Granov, which Baljić cited as another reason he wanted to be at Rayo. At times they formed a forward line 'Baljić, Bolić and Bolo' along with a Basque who also had a similar name. However, the move did not do much to improve Baljić's standing at the Bernabéu as more injuries, poor form, and even disciplinary issues followed with only one league goal from 10 appearances.