Saša Lukić
Саша Лукић
Lukić with Serbia in 2022
Personal information
Full name Saša Lukić[1]
Date of birth (1996-08-13) 13 August 1996
Place of birth Šabac, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Fulham
Number 28
Youth career
POFK Savacium
2009–2013 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Partizan 27 (2)
2013–2015 → Teleoptik (loan) 39 (9)
2016–2023 Torino 151 (13)
2017–2018 → Levante (loan) 16 (0)
2023– Fulham 24 (0)
International career‡
2015–2019 Serbia U21 21 (3)
2018– Serbia 42 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:25, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:01, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

Saša Lukić (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Лукић, pronounced [sǎʃa lǔːkitɕ, sâ-]; born 13 August 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Fulham and the Serbia national team.

Early life

Lukić was born in Varna, a village near Šabac, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia on 13 August 1996.

Club career

Partizan

Lukić started playing football at POFK Savacium, a football school in Šabac, before joining Partizan as a trainee in August 2009.[2] He signed his first professional contract for the club in August 2013 on his 17th birthday, signing a three-year deal.

Loan to Teleoptik

In order to gain senior experience, Lukić was immediately loaned to Teleoptik.[3] He played regularly for the Opticians in the 2013–14 season, making 23 league appearances and scoring three goals, as the club failed to avoid relegation.

Return to Partizan

On 16 May 2015, Lukić made his competitive debut for Partizan and played the full match in a 1–1 home league draw with Novi Pazar.[4] On 17 July 2015, he entered in the game against Metalac, replacing Stefan Babović in first game of 2015–16 Serbian SuperLiga.[5] On 8 August, he scored his first official goal for Partizan in the final minutes of a 2–1 home win over Spartak Subotica.[6] Two weeks later, he scored his second goal for Partizan in 3–1 away league win over Borac Čačak.[7] On 26 August 2015, Lukić made his debut in the UEFA Champions League in the second leg of the play-off round against BATE Borisov.[8] On 22 October, he played his first match in UEFA Europa League group stage against Athletic Bilbao.[9] In the absence of some players he captained the team for several games.[10][11]

Torino

On 29 July 2016, Lukić was signed by Italian club Torino.[12] On 17 October, he made his debut in Serie A in a 4–1 win away to Palermo, replacing Mirko Valdifiori. Lukić scored his first goal for Torino on May 3, 2019 in the Derby della Mole. Lukić followed the movement of the ball very well and in the duel he simply took the ball away from Miralem Pjanić and placed it in the net in a rather routine manner.[13] He scored his second goal on 26 May in the last game of the season in a 3–1 win over S.S. Lazio.[14] At the end of the 2018–19 Serie A, Torino finished in seventh position and thus secured participation in the Europa League qualifiers.

Levante (loan)

On 15 August 2017, Lukić was loaned to La Liga side Levante, for one year.[15]

Fulham

On 31 January 2023, Lukić joined Premier League side Fulham for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal with the English club.[16] Lukić made his debut at Craven Cottage on 11 February, coming on in the 91st minute as a substitute for Andreas Pereira in a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest.[17] Lukić was included in the starting line-up and played the whole game in the 0–3 loss against Arsenal.[18]

International career

Lukić made his debut for the Serbia U21 national team during the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship qualification, coming on as a substitute in a 5–0 home victory over Lithuania on 8 September 2015.

On 7 September 2018, he made his debut for the Serbia senior national team in a 1–0 win against Lithuania.[19]

In November 2022, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[20] He played in all three group stage matches, against Brazil,[21] Cameroon,[22] and Switzerland.[23] Serbia finished fourth in the group.[24]

Style of play

Lukić is a quick, hardworking, versatile with good vision, passing, and technique and well-rounded midfielder, who is also capable of playing in several positions, due to his ability to aid his team both offensively and defensively. A right-footed player, he is usually deployed as a creative attacking midfielder, due to his vision, passing, technique, and striking ability, as well as his adeptness at making attacking runs.[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 January 2024[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Teleoptik 2013–14 Serbian First League 23300––233
2014–15 Serbian League Belgrade 16600––166
Total 39900––399
Partizan 2014–15 Serbian SuperLiga 2000–0020
2015–16 25230–3[lower-alpha 2]0312
Total 27230–30332
Torino 2016–17 Serie A 14010––150
2017–18 0010––10
2018–19 24210––252
2019–20 30120–4[lower-alpha 3]0361
2020–21 32300––323
2021–22 35510––365
2022–23 16211––173
Total 1511371–4016214
Levante (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 16020––180
Fulham 2022–23 Premier League 1201000–130
2023–24 1201010–140
Career total 25824131107027925
  1. ↑ Includes Serbian Cup, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey, FA Cup
  2. ↑ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 November 2023[27]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Serbia 201860
201960
202050
202171
2022111
202370
Total422
Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lukić goal.
List of international goals scored by Saša Lukić
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
111 November 2021Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia Qatar1–04–0Friendly
224 September 2022 Sweden4–14–12022–23 UEFA Nations League B

Honours

Partizan

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Serbia (SRB)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 26. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Nadolaze 'mladi lavovi'" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Lukić Saša postao profesionalac u Partizanu" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Kraj odsviran sa tribina, remi Partizana nije pokvario šampionsku proslavu" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Partizan – Metalac 4:0 (3:0)" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ima pravde – ima Lukića!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "KRAJ: Borac - Partizan 1:3! (VIDEO)" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "BATE advance after holding off Partizan rally". uefa.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Athletic conquer Partizan's Belgrade fortress". uefa.com. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Treći test meč: Partizan – Shíjiāzhuāng Yǒngchāng 2:0 (1:0)" (in Serbian). FK Partizan.rs. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Četvrti test meč: Partizan – UFA 0:0" (in Serbian). FK Partizan.rs. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lukic al Toro" (in Italian). Torino F.C. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "JUVENTUS VS. TORINO 1 - 1". Soccerway.com. 3 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "TORINO VS. LAZIO 3 - 1". Soccerway.com. 26 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "El Torino y el Levante pactan la cesión de Sasa Lukic por una temporada" [Torino and Levante agree for the loan of Sasa Lukic for one season] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  16. ↑ FC, Fulham. "Lukić Joins Fulham". Fulham FC. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  17. ↑ "FULHAM VS. NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2 - 0". Soccerway.com. 11 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "FULHAM VS. ARSENAL 0 - 3". Soccerway.com. 12 March 2023.
  19. ↑ "Lituania-Serbia 0-1: Per Lukic c'è l'esordio in Nazionale".
  20. ↑ "Head-coach Dragan Stojković announces the list of players for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar". Football Association of Serbia. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  21. ↑ Conti, Kristen (24 November 2022). "Richarlison Brings Brazil to Life in the Second Half, Defeats Serbia 2-0". NBCNew York. New York. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  22. ↑ Sky Sports (28 November 2022). "World Cup 2022 - Cameroon 3-3 Serbia: Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting goals complete stunning comeback". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  23. ↑ Ames, Nick (2 December 2022). "Switzerland advance and Serbia go out as Freuler finish settles stormy contest". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  24. ↑ Mendola, Nicholas (2 December 2022). "World Cup 2022 Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Cameroon, Switzerland schedule, fixtures, rankings". NBC Sports. Lusail. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  25. ↑ "To je ta klasa 1996! Nije nam teško da po selima tražimo igrače kakav je Saša Lukić (VIDEO)" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  26. ↑ "S. Lukić". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  27. ↑ "S. Lukić". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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