Austrian born Croatian winger Christian Ilić arrived in North Lanarkshire in July 2019 and he became the ninth signing of the summer as manager Stephen Robinson reshaped his squad. The 22 year old brought great versatility to the squad as not only could he play on either flank be he was equally comfortable being deployed in a midfield role.

Christian had enjoyed some Austrian top tier experience with TSV Hartberg who he had actually helped get promoted.

Initially it looked like he would be an important cog in the wheel for Robinson’s first eleven as Ilic played in all four early season League Cup group games, he managed to find the back of the net against Dumbarton in a 2-0 win. Christian proved to be good on the ball, had plenty of pace to burn and made intelligent runs forward.

Despite some early promise he seemed to just drift out of the first team scene and would make sporadic appearances. He was on the books during the campaign where the Covid-19 pandemic brought the season to a premature end and he managed to register six starts, seven substitute appearances and the solitary goal as the Steelmen finished 3rd in the Premiership despite the early finish.

Ilić played in the match on the 4th March 2020 where Motherwell defeated Ross County 4-1 at Fir Park in front of 3,191 fans. It wouldn’t be until another 500 days later that the fans would get to see their heroes in action. However by this point, Christian had moved on almost a year earlier when he signed for Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

Name:	Christian Ilić
Height:	6′
Weight:	13st 3lbs
Date of Birth:	22nd July 1996
Place of Birth:	Friesach, Austria
Position:	Midfielder
Nationality:	Croatian

Football Career:

SC Weiz	2012	2014
TSV Hartberg	2014	2019
Motherwell	2019	2020
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2020	2021
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	2021	2022
Doxa Katokopias	2022	–

Well Career:

	Apps	Goals
League:	3 (5)	0
Scottish Cup:	0	0
League Cup:	3 (2)	1
Other:	0	0
Total:	6 (7)	1