Vujadin Savić

Vujadin Savić (Serbian Cyrillic: Вујадин Савић; born 1 July 1990) is a Serbian former professional football coach and former player. He played as a centre-back.

Vujadin Savić

Savić with Red Star Belgrade in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-07-01) 1 July 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1998–2007	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2010	Red Star Belgrade	14	(0)
2007–2009	→ Rad (loan)	25	(0)
2010–2014	Bordeaux	10	(1)
2011–2014	→ Bordeaux II	14	(1)
2012–2013	→ Dynamo Dresden (loan)	34	(0)
2014	→ Arminia Bielefeld (loan)	6	(0)
2015	Watford	0	(0)
2015–2017	Sheriff Tiraspol	34	(4)
2017–2019	Red Star Belgrade	36	(1)
2019–2022	APOEL	34	(2)
2021	→ Olimpija Ljubljana (loan)	10	(2)
Total		217	(11)
International career
	Serbia U19
	Serbia U21
Managerial career
2022–	Red Star Belgrade (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early career

Savić was eight years old when he began training for the Red Star Belgrade, where he passed all age categories. Between 2007 and 2009 he played for Rad before returning to Red Star where he would play in the first squad until 2010 when he moved to France and signed with Bordeaux.^[1] In January 2012, he went on loan to Dynamo Dresden for the rest of the 2011–12 season.^[2]

Watford

On 23 January 2015 Savić signed for English Championship club Watford until the end of the season.^[3] However, he was one of three released by Watford following their promotion to the Premier League in 2015, and left without making an appearance for the club.^[4]

Sheriff Tiraspol

In 2015, Savić joined Sheriff Tiraspol, where he made a total of 40 appearances and 4 goals in all competitions over two seasons. He scored a bicycle kick in a league match against Zaria Bălți on 19 September 2015.^[5]

Return to Red Star Belgrade

In June 2017, Savić returned to his home club, Red Star Belgrade, on a two-year contract.^[6] In his first season back in Belgrade, Red Star became the first team in history to make it to the 2018 Europa League knockout phase from the first qualifying round.^[7] It was also Red Star's first season surviving the group stage of a UEFA competition in 26 years.^[7] During the 2017 season, coach Vladan Milojević played Savić in reputable defensive partnerships with Srđan Babić^[7] and Damien Le Tallec. With Savić, Red Star conceded only two goals in the 2017 Europa League group stage; it was the second best defense in the Europa League group stage behind eventual semi-finalists Red Bull Salzburg.^[7] In May 2018, Savić was elected in the best 11 players for the 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga season, by clubs captains' and managers' choice.^[8] The following season, Savić managed to guide Red Star to their first ever UEFA Champions League appearance. During the qualifying rounds, playing mostly in tandem with Miloš Degenek, Red Star managed to concede only three goals. In absence of club captain Nenad Milijaš, Savić captained Red Star in all four of the games he featured in. In two out of those four games, both home against Napoli and Liverpool, Red Star managed to keep a clean sheet. He played the first half against Liverpool at Anfield but was substituted at half-time due to injury. He missed the remaining two games against Napoli in Naples and Paris Saint-Germain in Belgrade also because of injury. On 25 January 2019, Savić extended his contract with Red Star until summer 2022.^[9]

APOEL

On 14 July 2019, Cypriot club APOEL officially announced Savić's signing.^[10] Savić joined APOEL from Red Star on a free transfer, with a provision that Red Star be paid half of the sum of his next transfer.^[11] He signed a three-year contract.^[10] In late August 2019, he underwent surgery for a groin injury.^[12]

On 15 February 2021, Savić was loaned to Slovenian PrvaLiga side Olimpija Ljubljana for the remainder of the 2020–21 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.^[13]

International career

Savić represented Serbia at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. In March 2018, Savić got a first call to the Serbia national football team under coach Mladen Krstajić, for friendly games against Morocco and Nigeria.^[14] He failed to make a debut due to injury.^[15]

Personal life

Vujadin is a son of Serbian former professional footballer Dušan Savić.^[16] He has four children with actress Mirka Vasiljević, whi common law spouse.^[17] Savić was named after Serbian coach and former player Vujadin Boškov.^[18] He is also nicknamed Giška after his relative Đorđe Božović.^[19][20]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[21]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rad (loan)	2007–08[1]	First League	7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
	2008–09[1]	SuperLiga	18	0	0	0	—		—		18	0
	Total		25	0	0	0	—		—		25	0
Red Star Belgrade	2009–10	SuperLiga	14	0	0	0	3	0	—		17	0
Bordeaux	2010–11	Ligue 1	7	1	1[a]	0	—		—		8	1
	2011–12	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2013–14	Ligue 1	2	0	1[b]	0	1[c]	0	—		4	0
	Total		10	1	2	0	1	0	—		13	1
Bordeaux II	2011–12	CFA 2	9	1	—		—		—		9	1
	2013–14	CFA 2	5	0	—		—		—		5	0
	Total		14	1	—		—		—		14	1
Dynamo Dresden (loan)	2011–12	2. Bundesliga	13	0	—		—		—		13	0
	2012–13	2. Bundesliga	21	0	2	0	—		—		23	0
	Total		34	0	2	0	—		—		36	0
Arminia Bielefeld (loan)	2013–14	2. Bundesliga	6	0	—		—		—		6	0
Watford	2014–15	Championship	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Sheriff	2015–16	National Division	18	1	1	0	0	0	—		19	1
	2016–17	National Division	16	3	3	1	2	0	0	0	21	4
	Total		34	4	4	1	2	0	0	0	40	5
Red Star Belgrade	2017–18	SuperLiga	17	0	2	0	15[c]	0	—		34	0
	2018–19	SuperLiga	19	1	1	0	11[d]	0	—		31	1
	Total		36	1	3	0	26	0	—		65	1
APOEL	2019–20	First Division	17	1	1	1	8[e]	1	1[f]	0	27	3
	2021–22	First Division	17	1	3	0	0	0	—		20	1
	Total		34	2	4	1	8	1	1	0	47	4
Olimpija (loan)	2020–21	Slovenian PrvaLiga	10	2	0	0	0	0	—		10	2
Career total			217	11	15	2	40	1	1	0	273	14

1. Including an appearance in the Coupe de la Ligue
2. Including an appearance in the Coupe de France
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance in Cypriot Super Cup

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

• Serbian SuperLiga: 2017–18, 2018–19^[21]
• Serbian Cup: 2009–10^[21]

Sheriff

• National Division: 2015–16, 2016–17^[21]
• Moldovan Cup: 2016–17^[21]
• Moldovan Super Cup: 2016^[21]

APOEL

• Cyprus Super Cup: 2019^[21]

Olimpija Ljubljana

• Slovenian Cup: 2020–21

Individual

• Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2017–18^[8]

References

1. "Savic, Vujadin". srbijafudbal.com. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
2. "Vujadin Savić u Cvajti". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 23 January 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
3. "Ben Watson leaves to join Watford". BBC. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
4. "Watford will release Marco Motta, Luke O'Nien and Vujadin Savic while the club are in discussions with Heurelho Gomes, Hornets legend Lloyd Doyley and Rene Gilmartin". Watford Observer (in Serbian). 19 May 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
5. Obrenović, Aleksandar (20 September 2015). ""Makazice" Vujadina Savića za spas Šerifa!". Sportske.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
6. Вујадин Савић се вратио у Звезду. Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian). 17 June 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
7. Euan McTear (11 December 2017). "Tifo Football: How Red Star Belgrade returned from the European football wilderness". Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
8. "Super liga: Održana manifestacija Prvi tim, priznanja u rukama najboljih" (in Serbian). Serbian SuperLiga. 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
9. Савић продужио верност клубу. crvenazvezdafk.com (in Serbian). 25 January 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
10. Aleksadnar Obrenović (14 July 2019). "APOEL predstavio Savića". Sportske.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 October 2019.
11. Željko Mutavdžić (29 August 2018). "Vujadin Savić mora na operaciju!". MaxBet Sport (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
12. Nebojša Todorović (29 August 2019). "MORAO POD NOŽ Vujadin Savić operisan, brzo se vraća na teren". Meridian Sport (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 October 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
13. Podvratnik, Urban (15 February 2021). "Olimpijo je končno okrepil tudi izkušeni srbski branilec". Slovenski nogometni portal (in Slovenian). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
14. Крстајић позвао Савића, повратак Басте. Dnevnik (in Serbian). 10 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
15. "Vujadin Savić ostaje u Beogradu". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 21 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
16. "Vujadin Savić sin Dušana Savića" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
17. "SAVIĆ ZA ALO! OTKRIVA Evo kada će Vujadin odvesti Mirku pred oltar!" (in Serbian). Alo!. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
18. Blic (1 July 2017). "Čast i odgovornost: Vujadin Savić otkrio po kome je dobio ime" (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 March 2018.
19. ""Otvorenih karata" sa... Vujadinom Savićem!" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
20. "Vujadin Savić: Giška mi je bio pradeda" (in Serbian). Kurir. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
21. "V. Savić". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 August 2017.

External links

• Vujadin Savić at WorldFootball.net
• Vujadin Savić at Soccerbase