After months of speculation, Ugandan international Umar Lutalo is nearing a move to Croatian outfit NK Slaven Belupo Koprivnica, The Nerve Africa has exclusively learned.
Lutalo has been a free agent since leaving 2023/24 Uganda Premier League champions SC Villa at the end of the most recent season. He has been linked with Slaven Belupo and Ethiopian giants St. George for months, but he is now set to join the former.
A source close to his camp disclosed that the 20-year-old has held negotiations with Slaven Belupo over the past few days and that an agreement has been reached for him to sign a three-year contract, pending the acquisition of a work permit.
“Slaven Belupo has good relations with Ugandan players, so it wasn’t an issue getting in touch with Umar (Lutalo). Talks have been ongoing over the past week, and the club has offered a three-year contract. He’ll need to secure a work visa for Croatia before the deal is finalized,” the source revealed.
It should be noted that Lutalo was one of the standout performers for Villa in the recently concluded season, as they won the league championship with 57 points in 29 games. He scored eight goals and provided five assists in 22 appearances. Over his three-year spell, he played 50 league matches, scoring 12 times and providing 16 assists.
Lutalo has also seen a significant rise in the Uganda National Senior team, the Cranes, making three appearances in 2023. This followed his success with various youth-level teams, including the U-17 and U-20 squads. He is part of the Uganda Cranes team that has been called up to face Botswana and Algeria in the forthcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
