Fabian Benko

Fabian Benko (born 5 June 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bayernliga Süd club FC Pipinsried. Born in Germany, Benko has represented both Germany and Croatia internationally at the junior level.

Fabian Benko
Benko in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-06-05) 5 June 1998
Place of birth Munich, Germany[1]
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Pipinsried
Number 20
Youth career
SV Waldeck Obermenzing
2005–2016 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Bayern Munich II 84 (6)
2016–2018 Bayern Munich 0 (0)
2018–2021 Juniors OÖ 56 (8)
2018 LASK 3 (0)
2021–2022 SSV Ulm 1846 23 (2)
2022–2023 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 34 (6)
2023– FC Pipinsried 13 (2)
International career
2014–2015 Germany U17 2 (0)
2018–2019 Croatia U20 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 September 2023

Club career

Bayern Munich

Born in Munich to Croatian parents, Benko joined Bayern Munich in 2005 when he was seven years old.[1] He progressed through the club's academy side and was awarded an apprentice contract on 3 September 2015. The terms of the contract came into effect in June the following year with the effect of tying him to the club until 2018.[3] In January 2016, Benko was one of five academy players invited by manager Pep Guardiola to travel with the senior squad to Doha on their mid-season tour and later featured in a pre-season tour of China.[4]

Benko then appeared on the bench for Bayern for the first time in their Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb on 12 December 2015 where he remained an unused substitute. Had he taken to the field he would have become the club's youngest ever player.[4] He returned to and featured predominantly for Bayern's reserve side, Bayern Munich II, thereafter but his made his senior debut and only first team appearance on 19 August 2016, coming off the bench for Arturo Vidal in Bayern's 5–0 DFB-Pokal win over Carl Zeiss Jena.[5][6]

LASK

On 5 June 2018, Benko was transferred to Austrian Bundesliga side LASK on a free transfer where he signed a three-year contract.[7][8] The following month he was one of 100 players nominated for the Golden Boy award.[9] Benko made his professional debut on 29 July 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute for Peter Michorl in the 3–1 away loss to Red Bull Salzburg.[10]

SSV Ulm

Out-of-contract, Benko signed with Regionalliga Südwest side SSV Ulm on 4 August 2021.

International career

Youth national teams

Benko made his debut for the German U17 national team in 2014. He later elected to represent Croatia at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[1] In September 2016, amid discussion surrounding his international future, the Croatian Football Association confirmed that Benko had decided to continue to represent Croatia.[11][12]

Career statistics
As of 8 November 2019[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bayern Munich II 2015–16 Regionalliga Bayern 180—180
2016–17 Regionalliga Bayern 321—321
2017–18 Regionalliga Bayern 345—295
Total 846—846
Bayern Munich 2016–17 Bundesliga 001010
LASK 2018–19 Austrian Bundesliga 302050
FC Juniors OÖ 2018–19 2. Liga 50—50
Career total 92630956

References
  1. May, Sam (12 November 2015). "One for the Future: Bayern Munich's Fabian Benko". Bundesliga Fanatic. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  2. "Fabian Benko - FC Bayern Munich". FC Bayern Munich. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  3. Quinn, Phillip (3 September 2015). "Bayern Munich sign two academy products to professional contracts". Bavarian Football Works. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  4. Bogner, Florian (6 January 2016). "Fabian Benko (17): Pep Guardiola lobt seine Klasse - Teenager des FC Bayern München, Teil 2". Eurosport (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  5. Dillon, John (6 June 2018). "Fabian Benko transfers to Linzer ASK in the Austrian Bundesliga". Bavarian Football Networks. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  6. "Carl Zeiss Jena - Bayern Munich". kicker (in German). 19 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  7. "Benko joins the Linz ASK". Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  8. "Fabian Benko transfers to Linzer ASK in the Austrian Bundesliga". Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  9. "Pulisic, McKennie and Havertz: Meet the Bundesliga's 15 Golden Boy nominations for 2018". Bundesliga. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  10. "RB Salzburg – LASK 3:1 (Bundesliga 2018/2019, 1. Round)". WorldFootball. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  11. "Benko spielt nicht für Deutschland". Sport1 (in German). 24 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  12. "Fabian Benko odabrao hrvatsku reprezentaciju - Hrvatski nogometni savez". hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  13. "Fabian Benko » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
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