in 2003, pletikosa and teammate darijo srna transferred to shakhtar donetsk for €2 million. unlike srna, pletikosa did not succeed at the club and was subsequently loaned back to hajduk in 2005. his second spell at hajduk proved successful and earned him a starting place in croatia's 2006 world cup squad. pletikosa returned to shakhtar the following season, but found himself second choice to jan laštůvka, prompting the goalkeeper to seek a move. shakhtar accepted a bid of €3 million from dinamo zagreb, but pletikosa rejected the move due to his loyalty to hajduk, dinamo's biggest rivals. a loan move to fulham also fell through as he could not gain a work permit.