Marko Perović (footballer, born 1984)

Perović came through the ranks of FK Priština before moving to Red Star Belgrade. He made an impact at Red Star, proving to be an energetic and skillful player.

On January 31, 2008 Perović signed for Swiss giants FC Basel on a 6-month loan deal, hoping for a permanent deal after coming back from an injury plagued year at Red Star. He scored on his Basel debut, on 9 February, in a 3–0 win over Neuchâtel Xamax.

On June 2, it was announced that he had signed a permanent contract with Basel until 2011. He also scored on his full Basel debut, in a 2–1 win over BSC Young Boys on 18 July, and followed up the next week by scoring the winner in a 1–0 home win over Grasshopper Club Zürich. He was also named as Man of the Match for that game.

When Christian Gross was sacked as Basel manager, Perović saw little first-team football under successor Thorsten Fink and was demoted to the U-21 reserve team.

The 2009–10 FC Basel season saw Perović play just 12 minutes of football under Thorsten Fink, and in January 2010, at the suggestion of his agent, Perovic agreed to trail with Major League Soccer side New England Revolution.[3]

Perović noted that the'd never considered moving to MLS before his agent's suggestion. In an interview with the Revolution, he noted several challenges he faced when coming to the league, including the language barrier and travel. MLS travel included long plane flights, with which he had no familiarity, as his former teams traveled primarily by bus. He cited the outreach and support of his teammates as factors that helped him settle in.[4]

After a successful trial, and a successful pre-season stint which included two friendlies, the New England Revolution elected to sign Perović. Basel committed to a free transfer.[5]

After squaring away his P-1 visa and contract situation with Basel, Perović signed with New England on March 26, 2010, the same day the Revolution announced the return of winger Khano Smith.[6] He made his MLS debut as a substitute in the second half of the Revolution's 4–1 victory over Toronto FC on April 10, 2010.[7]

Deployed at left wing, Perović scored his first goal for the Revs, a "dazzling" 30-yard free kick, on April 24, 2010, against the eventual MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium in front of a crowd of 8,142. It was the Revolution's first set piece goal of the season.[8]

Perović scored his second goal for the Revolution on May 29, 2010, in the 8th minute against the New York Red Bulls. Though the Revolution would go on to win the game 3-2, the game is most remembered for the broken fibula suffered by starting goalkeeper Preston Burpo in a collision with New York's Dane Richards. [9]

Perović truly began to shine during the month of July. During a five-game stretch from July 10–31, he scored four of the Revolution’s six goals while assisting on another, scored by Zack Schilawski. These included a 67th minute game winner against the LA Galaxy on July 10,[10] and an equalizer against the Philadelphia Union in the Revolution's first-ever trip to PPL Park on July 31. On the 17th and 20th of July, in SuperLiga Group B play, Perović scored on the Chicago Fire and Monarcas Morelia.[11][12] [13]

Perović concluded the 2010 season as the Revolution's top scorer, with 6 regular season goals (8 across all competitions), and an additional 3 assists.[14] He was voted 2010 Team MVP on October 16.[15]

In what would be his only full season with the Revolution, Perovic established himself as an instant success and a fan favorite. In 2010 he not only led the team in scoring (8 goals in all competitions) but also won the Team MVP. He is remembered for his dynamic attacking play and free kick specialty.[16]

Perović's first goal of the 2011 season also proved to be his last for the club. Assisted by Benny Feilhaber (In Benny's league debut), in the 12th minute, he curled a 25-yard ball past Kansas City's on April 23, 2011. This goal snapped the Revolution's 192 minute scoreless streak.[17]

Perović was subbed off in the 60th minute of the same game with a left knee injury. Though nothing serious was apparent at the time of the injury, it was later determined to have aggravated a previous condition. The injury resulted in major surgery "requiring surgeons to reconstruct his left ACL, repair a medial meniscus tear and perform a chondroplasty on his medial femoral condyle." This effectively ended Marko's season, as it was learned he would miss 6–9 months due to the gravity of the procedure[18]

Almost a month after surgery, New England declined on their option to extend Perović contract on July 1, 2011.[19]

The announcement led to controversy and some backlash from fans and Perović. The Revolution were in the midst of what would become their worst season in club history and had limited attacking options. Marko had two-and-a-half years left on his contract at the time of his injury, but The Revolution were insistent that Marko had specifically asked for his option to be dropped. In an interview with fan blog The Bent Musket, Perović denied this, stating:

"I only have to tell you that I had a contract with the club and the deal would not comply. Took advantage of what I had hurt and offered me conditions that were not in agreement, this is blackmail, because I do not have the right to negotiate as an injured player... "Wanted more link to me for a year. All the players at the club know that I came here because my half of the money given to FC Basel and was now turn to New England to regulate."

Though the situation remains unclear, the blog speculates that Perović may have asked for his option to be dropped so that he could renegotiate his contract in hopes of a raise, coming off his stellar 2010 season, and this may have led to a misunderstanding with the club.

Perović's additional statements, such as "All players know what is happening at the club" he continued. "I know how all club functions. P[a]triots club is the only important." and "In any case [people] here are not thinking for the future," led fans to believe that the organization had in fact cut him without thought of renegotiating his deal. These statements were compounded by prior states from Revolution players like Jeff Larentowicz, who had stated "[In New England] we had a great practice field and locker room, but we were, rightfully so, second fiddle to [the Patriots]."

Despite the contentious words, Perović signed-off with a positive note, saying "The whole truth is that I love Boston, club and fans and I wanted to stay here [for my entire career]."[20]

Though he'd return for a trial in January 2014 as an unsigned free agent, he would make no more appearances for the Revolution. [21]

On 16 December 2011, he returned to Red Star Belgrade.

He signed a contract with Iranian side Persepolis on 20 December 2012 but he was released at the end of the season.

On 27 July 2017, it was reported that Perović had agreed to join Hong Kong Premier League club R&F.[22] He had arrived in Hong Kong only seven months earlier and spent the past half season at South China.

In January 2018, Perović joined R&F's mother team Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League.[23]

Red Star Belgrade

• Serbian SuperLiga: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07
• Serbian Cup: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2007–08
• Swiss Cup: 2007–08

Persepolis

• Hazfi Cup runner-up: 2012–13