Young Atlético Madrid goalkeeper has emerged as a star of his national side and is already being described as one of the best shot-stoppers in the world

Jan Oblak never really had much choice about which position he would play. “My father, Matjaz, was as an amateur for a team in the Slovenian third division and he was also a goalkeeper,” the Atlético Madrid and Slovenia No1 told the Spanish newspaper El País last year. “I would put myself behind his goal and if he went right, I would go right; if I went to the left, I went left ... I did not like it when they scored goals, but that made me realise since I was small that the goal is part of the keeper’s life.”

It was a chance encounter at half-time during one of his father’s matches that changed the life of the man who stands between England and a place at the 2018 World Cup. Born in Skofja Loka, a small town half an hour’s drive from the capital, Ljubljana, he joined his local club, Locan, at the age of six and showed great promise under the watchful eye of his father, who had once been on the books of the top-flight side Medvode as third-choice goalkeeper.

Four years later, a scout for Olimpija – the original version of one of Slovenia’s most successful clubs – happened to be in the crowd for one of Matjaz’s matches when Oblak junior took to the field during the break and fended off shots from his older sister Teja, who is now a basketball international. The scout persuaded Jan’s father to bring him to Olimpija’s next training session.

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Within 12 months the club had ceased to exist due to financial problems – eventually reforming as Olimpija Ljubljana in 2005 – but the upheaval had little effect on their rising star, who would cycle the 30-mile round trip after school for training every day.

“Sometimes my mother accompanied me on the bike, but when it was raining or cold I would take a train or a bus,” he recalled. “I had to leave a few hours earlier and then arrive back at my house late at night.”

A series of spectacular performances for Olimpija Ljubljana’s youth teams attracted the attention of several European sides, with Liverpool inviting him for a trial. But an untimely injury scuppered his hopes of being offered a move to Merseyside, while contract offers from Fulham and the Italian side Empoli were rejected on his father’s advice. He made his first-team debut for Olimpija at the age of 16, but when Benfica came calling in June 2010 after his starring role in Olimpija’s fourth-placed finish in the league, Matjaz finally relented.

“Everything went pretty fast,” Oblak said. “At 16 I was already playing in the first division of my country, that’s why so much was being said about me. It was not normal, but at age 16 I felt I was four or five years older. I’ve always felt older than I am.”

Since then Oblak has gone on to become the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of La Liga – by moving to Atlético for €16m. He has also appeared in a Champions League final and was linked with a €100m move to join Paris Saint-Germain last summer. He will not celebrate his 25th birthday until January, but the manager, Diego Simeone, already rates him as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

A shoulder injury sustained in a league victory over Villarreal in December had threatened to curtail his season. But a visit to the London-based surgeon Andrew Williams, who has operated on Arsenal’s Petr Cech, saw him return to the fray by the end of February, even though it had been estimated he would be out for four months.

Oblak’s spectacular triple stop in the Champions League last-16 victory over Bayer Leverkusen was followed by a penalty save to deny Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller in the semi-final – a tie Atlético eventually won on away goals. That penalty save cemented his reputation as one of Europe’s best young goalkeepers, even if he could not prevent his side from a second final defeat in three years to Real Madrid.

While the Football Leaks website has claimed that his representative, Miha Mlakar – who has connections to the super-agent Jorge Mendes – is due 12.5% of any future transfer fee, Atlético have yet to secure one of their prized assets on a new contract and it seems almost inevitable that he will move on sooner rather than later, with Real and PSG expected to lead the chase.

In the meantime, Oblak has emerged as the star in a Slovenia side who have been on the decline since reaching the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, where they were eliminated from England’s group after Landon Donovan’s injury-time winner for the USA against Algeria. Only 6,000 supporters attended the 4-0 qualifying victory over Lithuania last month, with Srecko Katanec’s side now likely to need at least four points from their final two matches to stand a chance of reaching the finals in Russia.

As the successor to the Internazionale keeper Samir Handanovic, who retired from international football in 2015 after being deposed as captain by Katanec, Oblak has big boots to fill. But England should be warned that he can handle the pressure.