[7][8] Genoa did not win promotion in summer 2004 and Bjelanović played his second Serie A season for US Lecce on loan.

As a result, Bjelanović was sold to Ascoli, the team which was promoted in Genoa's place, on a co-ownership deal.

Bjelanović signed for his 6th Italian club, Torino, along with Paolo Zanetti, on 21 June 2007, on a co-ownership deal.

He played only six months in Romania, in January 2011 being sold back in Italy, to Serie B club Atalanta for €385,000.

He made his debut for the Croatian senior national team on 9 February 2005, coming on as a second-half substitute for Eduardo da Silva in a friendly match against Israel, which ended in a 3–3 draw.

[19] In late March 2005, he was also part of the Croatian squad that played Iceland and Malta in the 2006 World Cup qualifying, but remained an unused substitute in both matches.

[20] Bjelanović was dismissed from the position of sports director of Hajduk after only eighteen months, without having spent a full season at the club.