Žan Vipotnik
Slovenian footballer (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Žan Vipotnik (born 18 March 2002) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Swansea City and the Slovenia national team.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 March 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Celje, Slovenia[1] | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Swansea City | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2014 | Dravinja | ||
| 2014–2020 | Maribor | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2023 | Maribor | 39 | (20) |
| 2021 | → Gorica (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2022 | → Triglav Kranj (loan) | 12 | (9) |
| 2023–2024 | Bordeaux | 37 | (10) |
| 2024– | Swansea City | 86 | (30) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Slovenia U15 | 4 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | Slovenia U16 | 7 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | Slovenia U17 | 10 | (1) |
| 2019 | Slovenia U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2020 | Slovenia U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2022 | Slovenia U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 2023– | Slovenia | 24 | (5) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 2 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 March 2026 | |||
Club career
Early career
Vipotnik began his career at his hometown club Dravinja, and later joined the academy of Slovenian giants Maribor.[3] He scored 58 goals for the under-15 team in the 2016–17 season, and was equally successful in the later stages of his youth career, scoring 53 goals in 50 games for the under-17 team and 31 goals in 25 games for the under-19 team.[4]
He made his senior debut for Maribor on 8 July 2021, after being named in the starting eleven in the UEFA Europa Conference League match against Urartu.[5] He spent most of 2021 and 2022 on loan, first with top division club Gorica, and later with Triglav Kranj in the second division.[6]
Vipotnik made a breakthrough in the 2022–23 season. He started the season in Maribor mostly as a substitute, but slowly made his way into the starting eleven and scored his first league goal in the 11th round against Gorica.[6] Despite this, he finished the season as the league's top scorer with 20 goals.[6]
Bordeaux
In July 2023, Vipotnik transferred to Ligue 2 side Bordeaux for a reported transfer fee of about €3 million.[7] He scored ten goals for the side, but off-the-field issues saw the club enter administration at the end of the 2023–24 season and give up their professional status, releasing Vipotnik as a free agent.[8]
Swansea City
On 1 August 2024, Vipotnik joined Championship side Swansea City on a four-year deal.[9] On 17 August, he scored his first goal for the club after coming off the bench in a 3–0 victory over Preston.[10] In his first season, he netted 7 goals in 42 league appearances.[11]
He began his second season with the Swans much more prolifically, surpassing his previous season's total in all competitions by October after scoring a brace against Norwich City.[12] After scoring another brace against Blackburn Rovers on 20 January, he became the league's outright top scorer.[13] Amid good performances, having scored 17 league goals by the end of March, and despite interest from Premier League teams, Vipotnik signed a new contract with Swansea, tying him to the club until the summer of 2030.[14][15] He ultimately finished the season with 23 league goals and won the league's top scorer award, and was also named in the Championship's Team of the Season.[16][17]
International career
Between 2017 and 2022, Vipotnik represented Slovenia in all youth levels from under-15 to under-21 and made more than 25 appearances for all teams combined.[18] In March 2023, he was called up to the Slovenian senior team by manager Matjaž Kek for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and San Marino.[19] Vipotnik made his full international debut on 23 March in an away game against Kazakhstan, where he entered the game in the 70th minute and scored the winning goal for Slovenia eight minutes later in a 2–1 win.[20] By doing so, he became the second youngest player to score for Slovenia, behind only Benjamin Šeško, at the age of 21 years and 5 days.[21]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 2 May 2026[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Maribor | 2020–21 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 30 | 20 | 4 | 3 | — | 4[d] | 0 | — | 38 | 23 | |||
| Total | 39 | 20 | 4 | 3 | — | 7 | 0 | — | 50 | 23 | ||||
| Gorica (loan) | 2020–21 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| Triglav Kranj (loan) | 2021–22 | Slovenian Second League | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2[e] | 1 | 14 | 10 | ||
| Bordeaux | 2023–24 | Ligue 2 | 37 | 10 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 40 | 10 | |||
| Swansea City | 2024–25 | Championship | 42 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 7 | ||
| 2025–26 | Championship | 44 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 49 | 25 | |||
| Total | 86 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 93 | 32 | ||||
| Career total | 191 | 70 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 214 | 76 | ||
- Includes Slovenian Cup, Coupe de France, FA Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, one appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in PrvaLiga play-off
International
- As of match played 31 March 2026[23]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia | 2023 | 8 | 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2026 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 24 | 5 | |
- Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vipotnik goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 March 2023 | Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan |
2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 2 | 10 September 2023 | San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino |
1–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 3 | 5 September 2025 | Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia |  Sweden |
2–2 | 2–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 31 March 2026 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro |  Montenegro |
1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 5 | 3–2 |
Honours
Individual
- Slovenian PrvaLiga Player of the Year: 2022–23[24]
- Slovenian PrvaLiga top goalscorer: 2022–23[25]
- Slovenian PrvaLiga Team of the Year: 2022–23[26]
- EFL Championship top goalscorer: 2025–26[27]
- EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2025–26[28]
- Swansea City Player of the Year: 2025–26[29]
