Aleksandar Katai

Aleksandar Katai (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Катаи; born 6 February 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who is currently a free agent.

Aleksandar Katai
Personal information
Full name Aleksandar Katai
Date of birth (1991-02-06) 6 February 1991
Place of birth Srbobran, Republic of Serbia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Winger
Youth career
2002–2009 Vojvodina
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Vojvodina 29 (6)
2009 → Palić (loan) 10 (3)
2011–2014 Olympiacos 0 (0)
2011 → OFI Crete (loan) 2 (0)
2011–2013 → Vojvodina (loan) 31 (6)
2013–2014 → Platanias (loan) 24 (8)
2014–2015 → Red Star Belgrade (loan) 20 (2)
2015–2016 Red Star Belgrade 37 (23)
2016–2018 Alavés 23 (3)
2018 → Chicago Fire (loan) 19 (8)
2018–2019 Chicago Fire 43 (10)
2020 LA Galaxy 2 (0)
National team‡
2011–2012 Serbia U21 2 (0)
2015– Serbia 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 September 2019

Club career

Vojvodina

Katai started playing football for his hometown club FK Vojvodina youth squad. After 6 months loan to lower league team FK Palić at the start of 2009–10 season he was promoted to Vojvodina's first team.[1] His debut in Serbian SuperLiga was on 14 March 2010, when he came in as substitute against FK Čukarički, and he scored his first goal just seven days later in a match against FK Mladi Radnik. On 28 June 2011, he left FK Vojvodina and went to Athens to join Olympiacos.[2]

Olympiacos

On 24 June 2011, Olympiacos agreed to sign Katai on a four-year contract.[3] At his first trainings with the club, coach Ernesto Valverde told Katai that he did not defend enough and that he needed to improve as a player.[4] Katai did not play a single match for Olympiacos, but was instead sent on loan four times. He was first loaned to OFI Crete, with whom he made his debut on 5 November 2011, against Panionios.[5] The loan spell to Crete was unsuccessful, and so Olympiacos loaned him back to his hometown club FK Vojvodina. While on loan at Vojvodina, in 2012 after one game with Spartak Subotica, he felt very ill and went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with thrombopenia.[4] He had to have some blood removed and stayed in the hospital for two weeks before he was allowed to recover from home.[4] During his recovery, he had gained over 20 pounds, and did not return to play football until the end of the year.[4] He remained a loaned player for Vojvodina until the club president Ratko Butorović died unexpectedly on 8 June 2013, which led to a period of instability in the club during which Katai left.[6] He subsequently was loaned to Platanias, for whom he scored a total of eight goals and six assists[4] until his loan there expired in the summer of 2014.

"Katai's problem is not motivation, it's in his head, because maybe he did not want to return to Serbia. The boy trained for a month and a half until midnight [at Olympiacos], and they still didn't allow him to train properly. All they did was let him on the training field so he wouldn't sue them. He is a little angry..."

Nenad Lalatović, 7 October 2014[7]

Red Star Belgrade

2014–15 season

On 31 August 2014, in a last-minute deal before the transfer window closed, Katai devoted to a one-year loan to Red Star Belgrade.[8] Throughout the fall of 2014, Katai was reported to be out of shape, and Red Star's coach Nenad Lalatović was said to have claimed that Katai "had a problem in his head".[7]

2015–16 season

On 18 June 2015, it was announced that Katai terminated his contract with Olympiacos and forgave a debt of €300,000 which was owed to him by Red Star from the loan contract, and subsequently signed a two-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.[9] For the 2015–16 season, Miodrag "Grof" Božović was hired as the new coach and Katai played a good game against Kairat in the first qualifying round for the Europa League, although Red Star failed to qualify. By the end of October 2015, Katai had scored 10 goals and made 6 assists in 15 league matches, ranking him one of the most effective midfielders in all of Europe at the time surveyed.[10]

Katai ended the season with the title of the best scorer of the Superliga, scoring his 21st in the last round against Radnički for the 27th title celebration.

2016–17 season

In the first competitive match of the 2016–17 season, Katai scored an equalizer and assist for win against Valletta FC in the first match of the second qualifying round for the Champions League in Valletta and winner in rematch, in Belgrade.[11] In the first game of the third round of qualification for the Champions League against Bulgarian PFC Ludogorets Razgrad continued his goal-scoring series, with a 12th consecutive goal, when he dribbled past three players and scored,[12] though Red Star were ultimately eliminated.

Alavés

On 31 August 2016, Katai signed a three-year contract with La Liga side Deportivo Alavés, for an undisclosed fee.[13]

Chicago Fire

On 6 February 2018, Katai was loaned by Alavés to Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. The loan was for the 2018 MLS season and includes a purchase option at season's end.[14]

On 11 July 2018, the Chicago Fire acquired Katai on a permanent basis from Alavés for an unknown amount. The deal has Katai signed through the 2019 season with a club option for 2020. It also has him remaining a TAM player for the 2018 season, but will change to a DP in 2019.[15]

LA Galaxy

On 31 December 2019, after leaving the Chicago Fire, Katai joined the LA Galaxy through the use of Targeted Allocation Money.[16]

Katai was released by LA Galaxy on 5 June 2020, following controversial social media messages posted by Katai's wife Tea in the wake of the George Floyd protests across the United States.[17][18] Katai's wife, writing in Serbian, had reportedly described protesters as "disgusting cattle" and had called for them to be killed. Katai condemned the statements and indicated his support for the Black Lives Matter movement in an Instagram post made two days before his release.[19][20]

International career

Katai played two games for Serbia U21 national team. On 5 October 2015, Katai received his first senior call-up and made his debut for Serbia in a friendly match against the Czech Republic.[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 March 2020[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Palić 2009–10 (loan)[1] League Vojvodina 103———103
Vojvodina 2009–10 SuperLiga 63———63
2010–11 23341——274
2011–12 (loan) 11120——131
2012–13 (loan) 20550——255
Total 6012111——7113
OFI Crete 2011–12 (loan) Superleague 20———20
Platanias 2013–14 (loan) 24820——268
Red Star Belgrade 2014–15 (loan) SuperLiga 20220——222
2015–16 33211230—3723
2016–17 42—64—106
Total 57253294—6931
Alavés 2016–17 La Liga 20360——263
2017–18 3010——40
Total 23370——303
Chicago Fire 2018 MLS 331241——3713
2019 29600—00296
Total 621841—006619
LA Galaxy 2020 MLS 2000——20
Career total 24069274940027677

International
As of 11 September 2019[23]
Serbia
YearAppsGoals
201510
201650
201700
201800
201930
Total90

Personal life

Born in Srbobran, a village in northern Serbia, his paternal grandfather was of Ukrainian origin and his grandmother was Hungarian. His surname is Hungarian, adopted from his grandmother.[24]

Honours

Club
Red Star

Individual

References
  1. "Aleksandar Katai". srbijafudbal.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. Archived 29 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine Sportal: Srbin doputovao u Grčku (in Serbian) 28 June 101
  3. ""Έκλεισε" τον Κατάι, συμφώνησε με Βοϊβοντίνα". redplanet.gr. 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 26 June 2011.
  4. "Mozzart Sport: Katai za MOZZART otkrio da je nekoliko meseci vodio bitku sa zdravljem: Bio sam nenormalno "plav" i lekari su utvrdili da bolujem od trombocitopenije" (in Serbian). 13 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. "Aleksandar Katai konačno debitovao! - Vesti, FKVojvodina.com". fkvojvodina.com.
  6. Novosti: Katai prvi otišao iz Vojvodine (in Serbian) 11 June 2013
  7. "Mozzart Sport: Lalatović: Katai ima problem u glavi, Partizanu je pomogla gej parada" (in Serbian). 7 October 2014.
  8. Mozzart Sport: ZVANIČNO: Katai u Zvezdi! (in Serbian) 31 August 2014
  9. RTS: Katai ostaje u Zvezdi, potpisao ugovor na dve godine! (in Serbian) 26 June 2013
  10. S. Ilijoski. Novosti: “Desetka” Zvezde među najproduktivnijim igračima u Evropi: Katai u društvu velikana (in Serbian) 30 October 2015.
  11. "Malteški vitez Aleksandar Katai!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  12. "On je Katai, on je Magiko!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  13. "Aleksandar Katai, calidad y gol para redondear el ataque albiazul" [Aleksandar Katai, quality and goal to round up the white-and-blue attack] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  14. "Chicago Fire Soccer Club Acquires Serbian International Aleksandar Katai on Loan from Deportivo Alavés | Chicago Fire FC".
  15. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/07/11/stejskal-chicago-fire-permanently-acquire-aleksander-katai-alaves
  16. "LA Galaxy sign midfielder Aleksandar Katai". LA Galaxy. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  17. "Galaxy release Aleksandar Katai following racist posts by his wife". Los Angeles Times. 5 June 2020.
  18. "LA Galaxy statement on Aleksandar Katai | LA Galaxy".
  19. Boucher, Ashley (5 June 2020). "LA Galaxy to 'Part' with Aleksandar Katai After His Wife Made 'Racist' Comments About Protesters". People. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  20. "Instagram post by Aleksandar Katai • Jun 4, 2020 at 2:59am UTC". Instagram. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  21. Mozzart: Zaslužen poziv: Katai u reprezentaciji Srbije za Albaniju i Portugaliju! (in Serbian) 5 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015
  22. Aleksandar Katai at Soccerway
  23. "Aleksandar Katai". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  24. Veljko Ivanović. "Blic: Uz moju Teu sve je lakše i lepše!".
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