Stefan Savić

Stefan Savić (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Савић, pronounced [stêfaːn sâʋitɕ]; born 8 January 1991) is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Atlético Madrid and the Montenegro national team as a central defender.

This article is about the Montenegrin footballer. For the Serbian footballer, see Stefan Savić (Serbian footballer). For the Austrian footballer, see Stefan Savić (Austrian footballer).

Stefan Savić
Savić playing for Montenegro in 2015
Personal information
Full name Stefan Savić[1]
Date of birth (1991-01-08) 8 January 1991
Place of birth Mojkovac, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Atlético Madrid
Number 15
Youth career
Brskovo
2007–2009 BSK Borča
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 BSK Borča 27 (1)
2010–2011 Partizan 20 (1)
2011–2012 Manchester City 12 (1)
2012–2015 Fiorentina 86 (4)
2015– Atlético Madrid 106 (1)
National team‡
2007 Montenegro U17[3] 3 (0)
2008–2010 Montenegro U19[3] 7 (0)
2009–2010 Montenegro U21[3] 5 (0)
2010– Montenegro 52 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:06, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2019

Born in Mojkovac, Savić started his career at the local club Brskovo,[4] before moving to BSK Borča, and then to Partizan. He won the double with Partizan, and then joined Manchester City for £6 million, winning the Premier League title in his only season there. In 2012, he was transferred to Fiorentina, making over 100 appearances across three seasons before signing with Atlético Madrid in 2015, where he won the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in 2018.[5]

A full international since 2010, Savić has 50 caps and 5 goals for Montenegro.

Club career

Career in Serbia

Savić began his professional career with BSK Borča during the 2008–09 season. In early 2010, he was on a ten-day trial with Arsenal. According to Savić, he had agreed to join Arsenal in the summer, but the transfer never went through.[6]

On 29 August 2010, it was announced that Savić had signed for Partizan on a four-year contract and was given the number 15 shirt.[7] He made 4 appearances in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage and helped the club win the double.

Manchester City

On 6 July 2011, Savić signed a four-year contract for Manchester City in a £6 million deal.[8][9][10] He made his debut against Swansea City on 15 August as a substitute at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 1 October, he came off the bench and scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 victory away to Blackburn Rovers, heading in the conclusive goal from a corner from Samir Nasri.

Throughout centre-back Vincent Kompany's four-match ban from 11 to 25 January, Savić replaced him in the starting line-up, with third-choice Kolo Touré away on international duty with the Ivory Coast in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Although Savić showed brief flashes of form in this time, he showed many instances of nervousness resulting in frequent misplaced passes, clearances and crucially conceded a penalty against Liverpool in a League Cup match, resulting in a Liverpool win.[11] Via a poor first touch, he caused Jermain Defoe's goal in City's 3–2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.[12] With Kompany's return to the starting team, Savić returned to the bench. He ended the season with 12 league appearances, enough for a medal, as Manchester City won the 2011–12 Premier League on the last day of the season.[13]

Fiorentina

On 31 August 2012, Italian Serie A club Fiorentina signed Savić as part of a deal for Matija Nastasić to transfer the other way. He was given the number 15 shirt and made his Fiorentina debut on 7 October, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 over Bologna, and in December he scored his first two goals in a 2–2 home draw with Sampdoria.[14] He finished the season with 26 league appearances and one Coppa Italia appearance, helping Fiorentina to finish in fourth place in the 2012–13 Serie A, thereby securing a UEFA Europa League place for 2013–14.

Savić continued to be a mainstay in the Fiorentina defence in the 2013–14 season, making 31 appearances in the league as Fiorentina again finished in fourth place. Savić made four appearances in the Europa League proper and two more in qualifying as Fiorentina made the last 16 of the competition, being beaten 2–1 on aggregate by rivals Juventus. He also played both matches in the Coppa Italia semi-final win over Udinese and in the final, where his side lost 3–1 to Napoli.[15]

In the 2014–15 season, Savić reached the milestone of 100 appearances for Fiorentina in all competitions. He was a major part of their run to the semi-finals in the 2014–15 Europa League and the third consecutive fourth-place finish in Serie A, making 41 appearances in all competitions.

Atlético Madrid

On 20 July 2015, Savić moved to Atlético Madrid for €10 million fee and signed a five-year contract with the club; midfielder Mario Suárez moving in the opposite direction for free as part of the deal, though Suárez later sold for €4 million in January 2016.[16][17] Savić became the first Montenegrin footballer who played in the Champions League final in the 21st century, 18 years after Predrag Mijatović, who scored decisive goal in the 1998 final for Real Madrid against Juventus.

International career
Savić playing against Ukraine in 2012

Savić represented Montenegro at every youth level, including under-17, under-19 and under-21 teams.[18] He made his international debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Northern Ireland on 11 August 2010, replacing Milan Jovanović for the final 15 minutes at the Stadion Pod Goricom. On 10 August 2011, he scored twice in a 3–2 friendly loss to neighbours Albania at the Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër.

Personal life

Stefan's father Dragan was the president of the municipal assembly in Mojkovac when he committed suicide on 6 April 2011 when Stefan was 20 years old.[19] Subsequently, Red Star Belgrade's Delije ultras, who are otherwise not known for being sympathetic to people associated with crosstown rivals Partizan, held up a transparent which said "Support for Stefan Savić" after the loss of his father.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 June 2020[21]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[lower-alpha 1] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
BSK Borča 2008–09 3000———30
2009–10 21111222
2010–11 300030
Total 27111———282
Partizan 2010–11 20140—40—281
Manchester City 2011–12 11110503000201
2012–13 000000001010
Total 11110503010211
Fiorentina 2012–13 26210———272
2013–14 3103060400
2014–15 2923090412
Total 86470—150—1084
Atlético Madrid 2015–16 12050—70—240
2016–17 32170100491
2017–18 2703070370
2018–19 180201010220
2019–20 170003120221
Total 1061170—281301542
Career total 2508301505014033910
  1. Includes FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de España

International
As of 11 October 2019[22]
National TeamYearAppsGoals
Montenegro
201040
201182
201270
201360
201440
201571
201641
201760
201841
201920
Total525

International goals
As of match played 10 September 2018. Montenegro score listed first, score column indicates score after each Savić goal.[23]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 August 2011Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania7 Albania1–12–3Friendly
2 2–1
3 8 September 2015Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova33 Moldova1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
4 8 October 2016Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro38 Kazakhstan5–05–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 10 September 2018Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro50 Lithuania1–02–02018–19 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

BSK Borča

Partizan[21]

Manchester City[21]

Fiorentina[21]

Atlético Madrid[21]

Individual

References
  1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 04 de mayo de 2019, en Barcelona" [Minutes of the Match held on 4 May 2019, in Barcelona] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  2. "Official Atlético de Madrid Website". en.atleticodemadrid.com.
  3. Only official UEFA matches included
  4. "Stefan Savić: Fabregas i Aršavin ne glume zvezde". blic.rs. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  5. Emma Sanders (15 August 2018). "Real Madrid 2–4 Atlético Madrid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. "Savic claims Gunners deal". skysports.com. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  7. "Stefan Savić novo pojačanje Partizana!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  8. "Manchester City complete Stefan Savic deal". London: dailymail.co.uk. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  9. "Stefan Savic completes Manchester City switch". BBC Sport. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  10. "Stefan Savic signs for City". mcfc.co.uk. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  11. Winter, Henry (12 January 2012). "Stefan Savic slip sees Steven Gerrard give Liverpool a 1–0 lead over Manchester City in League Cup semi-final". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  12. "Mancini defends Savic". Sky Sports.
  13. "Man City 3-2 QPR" BBC Sport. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  14. "Fiorentina 2–2 Sampdoria". legaseriea.it. Lega Serie A. 2 December 2012. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  15. "Coppa Italia final: Rafael Benitez's Napoli beat Fiorentina 3–1". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  16. "Acuerdo con la Fiorentina para el traspaso de Stefan Savic" (in Spanish). clubatleticodemadrid.com. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  17. ACF Fiorentina S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2015 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
  18. Stefan Savić – UEFA competition record
  19. "Ubio se gradonačelnik Mojkovca". www.novosti.rs.
  20. SMedia (Serbian): "Delije" pružaju podršku Saviću 8 April 2011.
  21. "Montenegro - S. Savić - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  22. "Savić, Stefan". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  23. "Stefan Savić". European Football. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  24. "Stefan Savic: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  25. Smith, Ben (12 August 2012). "Chelsea 2–3 Man City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
  26. "Tim sezone". sportske.net. 27 May 2011.
  27. "JSL: Izabran najbolji tim". b92.net. 27 May 2011.
  28. "Player of the year » Montenegro". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
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