Filip Valenčič
Quick Facts
Biography
Filip Valenčič (born 7 January 1992) is a Slovenian footballer who plays for Stabæk.
Club career
Valenčič started his senior career with local side Interblock, before moving to Slovenian PrvaLiga side Olimpija Ljubljana in 2011.
In July 2015, he signed with English side Notts County. He scored his first goal for the club against Crawley Town in a 1–0 win in January 2016.
Following his short spell in England, he signed with Palloseura Kemi Kings ahead of their first season in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. In 2017, he moved to HJK. In his first campaign with HJK, he finished as the league's joint second top-scorer with 15 goals (7 after his move from PS Kemi), and helped his team winning their record 28th league title. He also went on to win the league's player of the season award at the league's end of year gala on 3 November 2017.
After two successful seasons with HJK, Valenčič signed a deal with Stabæk in 2018 on a three-year contract. He would go on to only play 124 minutes during the 2018 Eliteserien campaign, scoring no goals. On 12 February 2019, he joined Inter Turku on loan for the 2019 Veikkausliiga season. He finished the campaign as the league's top scorer with 16 goals as the club finished in second place, securing a spot in the first qualifying round of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.
International career
Valenčič has represented Slovenia at various youth levels. In 2019, it was reported that we has considering switching allegiances and taking Finnish citizenship so that he could represent Finland on the international stage.
Honours
- HJK
- Veikkausliiga: 2017, 2018
- Finnish Cup: 2016–17
- Individual
- Veikkausliiga Player of the Season: 2017
- Veikkausliiga Top scorer: 2019