Dinamo confirmed the deal at the end of August, with Copenhagen agreeing to a one-year loan that includes an option for the Croatian champions to purchase Kotarski at the end of the season. The Danish club also confirmed that the goalkeeper had expressed a desire to return to Croatia with his young family, helping create the conditions for the move.
For Dinamo, meanwhile, the signing brings an established Croatian international into one of the most demanding positions at the club.
Back Where the Journey Began
Kotarski was born in Zabok in February 2000 and began playing football with Tondach Bedekovčina before joining Dinamo’s academy as an 11-year-old in 2011. He progressed through almost every age group at Maksimir and quickly developed a reputation as one of the most promising goalkeepers in Croatian youth football.
His talent eventually attracted Ajax, one of Europe’s most renowned clubs for player development. Kotarski moved to Amsterdam shortly after turning 18 in 2018, beginning an international career before ever establishing himself in Dinamo’s senior team.
He played extensively for Jong Ajax in the Dutch second division and was also part of the senior first-team environment, gaining experience in a club whose goalkeepers are traditionally expected to contribute heavily in possession as well as in conventional shot-stopping.
The move did not immediately lead to regular first-team football in Amsterdam, but it provided a technical foundation that would become an important part of Kotarski’s profile.
Eight and a half years later, he has returned to Zagreb as a very different goalkeeper.
Gorica Provided the Breakthrough
Kotarski’s first significant senior experience in Croatian football came not with Dinamo but with Gorica. He joined the Velika Gorica club on loan for the 2021/22 season and quickly established himself as a first-choice goalkeeper, making 28 appearances across league and cup competition.
That season proved crucial.
After several years spent developing within Ajax’s system, Kotarski finally had the opportunity to play regularly at senior level. His performances attracted interest from abroad and, in the summer of 2022, he moved to PAOK.
It was in Thessaloniki that his career accelerated.
Kotarski spent three seasons with PAOK and became one of the most highly regarded goalkeepers in Greek football. The defining achievement came in 2024, when PAOK won the Greek championship and Kotarski was named the league’s best goalkeeper.
He also accumulated substantial European experience during his time in Greece, adding another dimension to a career that had already exposed him to different football cultures and tactical demands.
By the time he left PAOK, Kotarski was no longer simply the promising goalkeeper who had departed Dinamo as a teenager. He had become an experienced first-choice professional.
Copenhagen and the Road Home
Kotarski continued his career with FC Copenhagen, one of Scandinavia’s biggest clubs, before the opportunity to return to Zagreb emerged.
According to Copenhagen’s official announcement, Kotarski made clear that returning home was attractive for both sporting and family reasons. The Danish club agreed to the move after securing another goalkeeper and reaching terms with Dinamo over the structure of the deal.
Dinamo’s arrangement is therefore relatively straightforward: Kotarski joins on loan for the season, while the club retains an option to make his return permanent.
For the player himself, there was little hesitation.
Kotarski described playing at Maksimir as something he had always dreamed about and stressed that once the possibility of returning appeared, he wanted the move to happen. He also acknowledged the pressure that comes with representing Dinamo, particularly in a position where mistakes are heavily scrutinised.
That pressure will not be unfamiliar.
Years in Amsterdam, Thessaloniki and Copenhagen have exposed Kotarski to clubs where domestic success is expected rather than merely hoped for.
At Dinamo, the same principle applies.
More Than a Homecoming
There is an obvious emotional element to Kotarski’s return, but Dinamo are not simply bringing back a former academy player for sentimental reasons.
At 26, he is entering what should be the prime years of a goalkeeper’s career. He arrives with experience from four different football environments, a domestic championship in Greece and dozens of European appearances behind him.
He is also part of Croatia’s senior national-team picture.
Kotarski had made four appearances for the Vatreni by the time his move was announced and was part of Croatia’s squad at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
That international status gives the transfer additional importance. Regular football at Dinamo offers Kotarski the opportunity to remain visible to the national-team coaching staff while competing domestically and in Europe.
It also creates an intriguing link between club and country. Dinamo have traditionally supplied a significant number of players to Croatia, and having an active senior international goalkeeper at Maksimir strengthens that connection.
A Different Player Returns to Maksimir
The most interesting aspect of Kotarski’s transfer may be the contrast between the player who left and the one who has returned.
When he departed for Ajax in 2018, Kotarski represented potential. He was a talented teenager leaving Croatia before receiving a genuine senior opportunity at Dinamo.
Now he returns with years of professional football behind him.
He has experienced the technical demands of Ajax, earned his first sustained senior minutes at Gorica, competed for trophies and played European football with PAOK, and added another major club to his résumé with Copenhagen.
Dinamo are therefore not attempting to restart his development. They are bringing home a goalkeeper who has already completed much of that development elsewhere.
There is also unfinished business in the move.
Kotarski spent almost seven years within Dinamo’s academy but never became the club’s established senior goalkeeper. His career had to take a long route through Amsterdam, Velika Gorica, Thessaloniki and Copenhagen before finally bringing him back to Maksimir.
That explains why his first words after returning carried more emotion than the usual transfer announcement.
For Kotarski, wearing Dinamo’s senior shirt represents something he had been working towards long before his first professional transfer.
Pressure Comes With the Shirt
Returning to Dinamo also means returning with expectations.
The Zagreb club enters every domestic season expected to compete for trophies, while European competition places additional pressure on every position. Goalkeeper is particularly unforgiving, with performances often judged through a handful of decisive moments.
Kotarski appears well equipped for that responsibility. His experience abroad has required him to operate under pressure, while his time at Ajax helped develop the comfort with the ball increasingly demanded from modern goalkeepers. His years as a regular starter in Greece and Denmark added the match experience that was missing when he first left Croatia.
Whether the loan ultimately becomes a permanent transfer will depend on the season ahead, but the structure of the agreement gives both Dinamo and Kotarski an opportunity to determine whether this homecoming can become a long-term partnership.
The symbolism, however, is already clear.
A goalkeeper who left Maksimir as a teenager searching for a pathway to senior football has returned more than eight years later as a Croatian international, a league champion and an established European professional.
Dominik Kotarski left Dinamo with a reputation for what he might one day become. He returns to Maksimir with the chance to show what those years away have made him.
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