Josip Elez (Croatian pronunciation: ; born 25 April 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Hannover 96.
Elez started his career at NK Solin, his hometown club. At the age of 14 he moved to HNK Hajduk Split, where he spent five years as a youngster and also collected three first team caps in the Croatian First Football League.
In July 2013, age 19, Elez was transferred to S.S. Lazio for a fee €400,000. Elez spent the 2014–15 season on loan at Grosseto and Honvéd in Hungary, where he was a regular starter. He spent the following season on loan at Aarhus Gymnastikforening in Denmark, where he made 29 appearances and scored two goals. AGF were interested in keeping him at the club but were unable to agree a permanent move. In June 2016, Elez was sent to HNK Rijeka in Croatia on a season-long loan, with a buying option for €450,000. It was revealed in early May 2017 that HNK Rijeka exercised the buying option.