M. Subotić

NK Lokomotiva handed the captain's armband this season to a player who was barely 18 — Matija Subotić, the youngest captain in the HNL for 2025/2026. He is a product of the club's own academy, having arrived from NK Ponikve and worked through every youth category before making his senior debut against HNK Rijeka. Since then he has built a regular run in the first team, adding two appearances in the Croatian Cup along the way.

Subotić's rise has run in parallel with success at youth level. With Lokomotiva's U19 side he won the Junior Double, taking both the league title and the cup in the 2024/2025 season. He has since become a fixture for Croatia's U19 national team, helping the side reach the semi-finals of the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with a perfect group-stage record: three wins from three, 14 goals scored and none conceded. He was singled out as the outstanding performer in the win over Serbia, completing every pass he attempted. That run also confirmed Croatia's place at the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

A right-footed midfielder, Subotić has stayed loyal to Lokomotiva throughout his career so far, with no move to another senior club to date. The captaincy at such a young age has put him in an unusual position for a player his age.