Milinković-Savić began his professional career at Serbian club Vojvodina and helped them win the Serbian Cup in the 2013–14 season. He joined Belgian club Genk in June 2014, where he played 24 games before transferring to Italian club Lazio one year later. He made over 300 appearances for Lazio and won the Coppa Italia once and the Supercoppa Italiana twice. He was named in the Serie A Team of the Year in the 2017–18 season and won the league's Best Midfielder award in the 2018–19 season.
Milinković-Savić played youth international football for Serbia at under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He was a member of the Serbian team that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup and received the tournament's Bronze Ball award for his performances. He made his senior international debut in 2017, and represented Serbia at the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, as well as at UEFA Euro 2024.[3]
Early life
Milinković-Savić was born into a sporting family in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain,[4] where his father Nikola Milinković[5] played football professionally at the time. His mother, Milana Savić, was a professional basketball player. He first started training with Sporting CP, while his father was playing in Portugal.[6] He then spent a few years at Grazer AK in Austria before moving to his Serbia where he broke through as a footballer.
Milinković-Savić is the older brother of Vanja Milinković-Savić, a fellow footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.
Club career
Vojvodina
Milinković-Savić came through the youth academy of Vojvodina. He was one of the midfielders who emerged from the youth squad that won two consecutive national youth championship titles, alongside Mijat Gaćinović and Nebojša Kosović. Consequently, Milinković-Savić signed his first professional contract with the club on 26 December 2012, penning a three-year deal.[7]
Milinković-Savić made his senior debut in a 3–0 away loss to Jagodina on 23 November 2013.[8] He scored his first goal in a 1–1 away draw with Spartak Subotica on 9 March 2014. In total, Milinković-Savić made 13 league appearances and scored three goals in the 2013–14 season. He also helped Vojvodina win the 2013–14 Serbian Cup in the club's centennial year.[9]
Genk
In June 2014, Milinković-Savić signed a five-year contract with Belgian club Genk and was given the number 20 shirt.[10] He made his competitive debut for the club in a 1–1 home league draw with Cercle Brugge on 2 August 2014. Milinković-Savić scored his first goal for Genk in a 1–1 away league draw against Lokeren on 18 January 2015. He scored a total of five league goals in 24 appearances during the 2014–15 season.
On 31 July 2015, it was announced that Milinković-Savić would join Italian club Lazio.[11] He made his debut for the side in a 1–0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the Champions League play-off round on 18 August 2015.[12] Milinković-Savić scored his first goal for Lazio in a 1–1 Europa League draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 17 September 2015.[13] He scored his first Serie A goal in a 3–1 away win over Fiorentina on 9 January 2016. Throughout his debut season, Milinković-Savić made 35 appearances and scored three goals for Lazio in all competitions.
In his second season at Lazio, Milinković-Savić scored seven goals from 39 appearances (league and cup).
On 5 December 2021, Milinković-Savić became the highest-scoring midfielder in Lazio's history following his goal against Sampdoria. He beat previous holder Pavel Nedvěd, who had the record of 33 goals for over a decade.
Al Hilal
On 12 July 2023, Saudi club Al Hilal announced the signing of Milinković-Savić on a three-year deal,[14] for a reported fee of €40 million.
In January 2023 it was revealed by former Lazio sporting director Igli Tare: “A lot of things have been said about Milinkovic-Savic that are not true… the only thing that is true is that Lotito [Lazio president] turned down a very important offer, over £85 million, from AC Milan and #mufc.”[15]
International career
Youth
Milinković-Savić represented Serbia at under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels.[16] He played for Serbia at the 2013 UEFA Under-19 Championship, winning the gold medal. He played the full 90 minutes in four out of five games, including the final match of the competition against France that Serbia won 1–0.[17] Subsequently, Milinković-Savić appeared at the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship, as the team was eliminated in the semi-final by Portugal after penalties. He missed Serbia's last spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out.[18]
The following summer, Milinković-Savić was one of Serbia's most influential players at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as the team won the tournament.[19] He appeared in six out of seven games and scored one goal against Mali in the group stage. Due to his performances during the tournament, Milinković-Savić was awarded the Bronze Ball.[20]
In October 2015, Milinković-Savić received his first call-up to the full squad by manager Radovan Ćurčić for Serbia's UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers against Albania and Portugal.[21] He remained an unused substitute in both games. In May 2016, Milinković-Savić was selected by newly appointed manager Slavoljub Muslin for friendly matches against Cyprus, Israel, and Russia.[22] However, after failing to receive any playing time in the first two games, Milinković-Savić left the team in agreement with Muslin who said that some other players better fit into his tactical formations.[23]
On 30 October 2017, it was announced that Serbia caretaker manager Mladen Krstajić included Milinković-Savić in the squad for friendlies against China and South Korea.[24]
In June 2018, he was selected in the Serbian squad for the 2018 World Cup,[25] playing all three group stage matches.[26][27][28]
Milinković-Savić scored his first two senior international goals on 8 October 2020, settling a 2–1 win over Norway in the semi-finals of the Euro 2020 qualifying play-off.[29]
Milinković-Savić was part of the Serbia squad for UEFA Euro 2024 and started the team's opening match of the tournament against England, playing the full 90 minutes of the 1–0 loss.[35] He also played in group stage matches against Slovenia and Denmark. Serbia finished fourth in the group.
Style of play
Sergej Milinković-Savic is a versatile central midfield player and is capable of playing in several roles, including as a trequartista, or in a holding role, although he is usually deployed as a central midfielder, in the mezzala role. His style of play has drawn comparisons to Zinedine Zidane and Yaya Touré, as he blends the traditional attacking movement, positional sense, and finishing ability of an attacking midfielder, with the height and physicality of a target man or defensive midfielder; as such, he also is effective in the air, and is capable of scoring goals with his head as well as either foot, by making late runs from behind into the penalty area, or striking from distance. He possesses good technique, tactical intelligence, vision, and passing ability, despite his limited pace, as well as tenacity and excellent defensive work-rate, which enables him to help out at both ends of the pitch, carry the ball, and start attacking plays after winning possession. He has been nicknamed ‘il Sergente’ (the Sergeant) by Lazio fans for his charisma, physical dominance and for the assonance with his name.[36][37][38][39]
^Luciano, Aniello (25 July 2015). "SERGEJ MILINKOVIC-SAVIC" (in Italian). www.mondofutbol.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
^Newman, Blair; Hodges-Ramon, Luca; Hall, Richard; Ficetola, Franco; Neale, Mark; Gates, Emmet (24 January 2017). "The 50 best young footballers in Italy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
_-_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%8F.jpg)
