Livaja began at the lower-tier Croatian side GOŠK Kaštel Gomilica when he was 4 years old,[5] and subsequently NK Omladinac Vranjic before getting a call to the Dinamo Zagreb Academy in the summer of 2008.

[7] Later in 2010 (after joining the full Hajduk team) Livaja was sold to Internazionale, who loaned him to Swiss side FC Lugano in 2011.

[12] Livaja received his first call-up as a member of the first team on 1 April 2012, where he was an unused substitute in a match against Genoa won 5–4 at San Siro.

Livaja got more playing time in European games, as he was the coach Stramaccioni's first choice striker for 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group matches against Rubin Kazan, FK Partizan, and Neftchi Baku.

[17] Inter paid €1.5 million to acquire Livaja outright from Cesena[18] but resold half his rights to Atalanta for €2.5M as part of Ezequiel Schelotto's deal for €6M.

[32] Livaja made his first Copa del Rey appearance on 10 January of the following year in the returning leg of round of 16 against Atlético Madrid, scoring a brace in a 2–3 away win but 4–3 aggregate loss.

[35] On 28 September 2017, he scored a 90th-minute equaliser for AEK, his second in a game that ends 2–2 against Austria Wien in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

[37] On 19 November 2017, Livaja stole a point for AEK in an away 1–1 derby against rivals Panathinaikos with a dramatic equalizer at the last moment of the game.

[39] On 3 December 2017, with his second-half goal, AEK won 2–0 in an away clash against Levadiakos remaining on top of the 2017–18 Super League after 13 matches.

[42] On 4 March 2018, he scored with a head in a brilliant right-wing cross from Rodrigo Galo, sealing a 1–0 home win against rivals Panionios.

[46] On 22 March 2018, impressed by his performances, AEK decided to trigger his optional transfer clause of €1.8 million and the player will reportedly earn €700,000 per year until the summer of 2021.

[47] On 14 August 2018, he headed into the net from close range to make it 2–0, and despite Scott Sinclair bringing Celtic back into the contest in the latter stages, AEK held on for dear life to earn progression to the UEFA Champions League playoffs to play Vidi in a 2–1 home win game against Celtic in the Champions League Third qualifying round, 2nd leg.

[50] On 20 October 2018, some excellent build-up play from forward Viktor Klonaridis allowed Livaja to score his first league goal since the opening match of the season, in a 2–0 away win against Apollon Smyrnis.

[51] A week later, he chipped in to put further gloss on the scoreline by converting a Lucas Boyé cross, added a fourth for Marinos Ouzounidis’ team in a hammering 4–0 home win game against Aris.

[66] On 7 June, after an 80-day enforced Covid-19 break, Livaja picked up possession under close attention from Mattias Johansson, and he skillfully turned his man before beating Sokratis Dioudis with a powerful shot to equalize the score in a 1–1 home draw game against Panathinaikos for the 2019–20 Superleague playoffs.

[68] On 24 June, Livaja scored a brace and led his team to the cup final for the fifth consecutive year, after a dramatic 2–2 away draw against Aris at extra time.

[82] Livaja finished the 2021–22 Prva HNL season as top goalscorer with 28 goals, ahead of Rijeka's Josip Drmić with 21.

[83] His 28 league goals is a Hajduk record for a single season, beating Leo Lemešić's tally of 26 in 1934–35 and Zlatko Vujović with 25.

[94] On 17 December, in the third place play-off against Morocco, Livaja provided Mislav Oršić with an assist for the winning goal, as Croatia won 2–1 and claimed their second bronze and third overall World Cup medal in history.

[98] On 25 September, Livaja earned a call-up back to the national team ahead of the October Euro 2024 qualifiers against Turkey and Wales.

[101] Writing for The Guardian, Croatian journalist Aleksandar Holiga claimed that Livaja's decision had been influenced by Dalić's "failure to back him".