SS Lazio announced on 22 August that they had acquired the registration of Josip Šutalo from AFC Ajax on a temporary basis, with an option to buy. The Croatian defender arrives in Rome almost exactly three years after signing in Amsterdam: that was 21 August 2023.
The profile in brief
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Player | Josip Šutalo |
| Born | 28 February 2000 (26) |
| Place of birth | Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Position | Centre-back |
| Height | 1.85 m |
| Previous club | AFC Ajax |
| Formula | Loan with an option to buy |
| Shirt number | 37 |
| National team | Croatia |
What the statement says, what the press says
The official club text stops at the formula: temporary transfer with an option. No figures, as is almost always the case in Italian announcements.
The numbers circulating in the sports papers point to a paid loan of around 3 million euros, a buy option set at about 7.5 million plus bonuses and a sell-on percentage that would stay with Ajax. A contract until 2027, automatically extended to 2031 if the option is exercised, is also mentioned. These are journalistic reconstructions: neither club has confirmed them, and they should be read as reports.
Who Šutalo is
Born in Čapljina, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he came through Dinamo Zagreb after arriving from Neretva in 2014. He made his first-team debut in October 2019 and became a regular starter in 2021-22, the season he put together 28 league appearances and 2 goals. Between 2021 and 2023 he made the Croatian league team of the year twice.
In August 2023 Ajax bought him for a reported 20.5 million euros on a five-year deal. On his Eredivisie debut, on 3 September, he was handed the captain’s armband straight away in a goalless draw at Fortuna Sittard: a detail that says how much the club was betting on him from day one.
Three seasons in Amsterdam
| Season | League appearances | Goals | Total appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 23 | 1 | 32 |
| 2024-25 | 29 | 2 | 45 |
| 2025-26 | 24 | 0 | 31 |
In all, 108 matches for Ajax, 4 goals, and 30 appearances in European competition across the Europa League, the Conference League and the Champions League. The second season was the best: in 2024-25 he made the Eredivisie Team of the Season and the team of the month in September and April.
What he brings to Serie A
Šutalo is not a defender built on centimetres: at 1.85 metres he sits below the average of the box defenders you see in Italy today. His trade is a different one, and the public data on his last full season describes it well: a pass completion rate of around 93 per cent, high interception numbers, constant involvement in the first phase of build-up.
This is the profile of the centre-back who plays the ball, reads the passing lane before the contact and follows the ball out of defence. It works in sides that hold a high line and accept defending in open space, less so in sides that sit deep and ask the centre-back to win every aerial duel inside the six-yard box.
At Lazio he finds Gennaro Gattuso, appointed in June 2026 after his spell with the national team. With Ajax, Šutalo played three seasons at a high European level and passed a hundred appearances: he does not arrive as a project to be developed.
The formula and the point of the deal
A loan with an option does one precise thing. It gives Lazio twelve months to work out whether the player copes with Serie A without committing the balance sheet to a full investment straight away, and it leaves Ajax in control of the registration if things do not work.
For a 26-year-old defender with more than two hundred matches between club and country, that formula shifts the risk onto immediate output. There is no settling-in time to grant: a player who arrives this way has to be ready on the first available Sunday.
What is left to find out
The real question is about the league, not the player. Serie A asks centre-backs for things the Eredivisie asks less often: blocked matches, short transitions, forwards who move with their back to goal rather than into space.
Šutalo has the qualities to adapt, and his career says that in new environments he has taken little time to become a starter. If that happens in Rome too, the buy option will turn into a formality.
Data and information collected from public sources: official club statements, Wikipedia, statistical archives and sports press. Financial figures are press reports, not data confirmed by the clubs.
Frequently asked questions
How did Josip Šutalo join Lazio?
On a temporary transfer from AFC Ajax, with an option to make the move permanent. Lazio announced it on 22 August 2026.
How much did Šutalo cost Lazio?
Neither club released figures. The Italian press reports a paid loan of around 3 million euros and a buy option of about 7.5 million plus bonuses, with a sell-on percentage kept by Ajax. Those are reports, not official numbers.
What kind of defender is Šutalo?
A right-sided centre-back of 1.85 metres, born in 2000, strong in build-up play and in reading passing lanes early. He played 108 matches for Ajax in three seasons and made the 2024-25 Eredivisie Team of the Season.
How many caps does he have for Croatia?
He debuted on 10 June 2022 against Denmark, took third place at the 2022 World Cup with Croatia and was named on 18 May 2026 in the 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup.
What shirt number does Šutalo wear at Lazio?
Number 37, the same one he wore at Ajax.
