Filip Kostić

About Filip Kostić

Filip Kostić's career contains two relegations and a European trophy, and the order in which they arrived is what makes his path worth following. Born in November 1992 in Kragujevac, in central Serbia, he started at his hometown club Radnički Kragujevac in 2010. Two years later he moved to Groningen in the Netherlands, the usual proving ground for young Balkan talent, and his directness on the left wing earned him a transfer to the Bundesliga in 2014.

Germany became his footballing home, but the start was hard. VfB Stuttgart were relegated in 2016, and his next club, Hamburger SV, went down in 2018, the first relegation in that famous club's history. A winger with two relegations in three years could easily have slid out of the top level. Instead, Eintracht Frankfurt took him in 2018 and changed his role.

In Frankfurt he became a left wing-back, operating along the whole flank in a back-three system. The position suited everything he did well: repeated sprints, a strong left foot, and a stream of crosses from deep and from the byline. Over four seasons he became one of the most productive wide players in the Bundesliga in terms of chances created, and Frankfurt grew into a team that nobody liked facing in Europe.

The peak came in the 2021-22 Europa League. Frankfurt went all the way and won the final in Seville against Rangers, and Kostić was widely regarded as one of the standout performers of the entire campaign. For a player whose German adventure had begun with two relegations, it was a remarkable turnaround. Frankfurt supporters travelled in huge numbers throughout that run, and the images of the club's fans filling stadiums across Europe became part of how that season is remembered.

Juventus signed him in 2022, bringing him to Serie A in Turin. In Italy he has been used both as a winger and as a wing-back, although minutes were less consistent than at Frankfurt. He spent the 2024-25 season with Fenerbahçe in Istanbul before returning to Juventus in 2025, and that is where he plays now. For Serbia he has been a regular international for many years and has played at World Cups.

Put together, the career covers five countries and four of the strongest leagues he could have hoped to reach as a teenager in Kragujevac: the Eredivisie, the Bundesliga, Serie A and the Turkish top flight. The club list tells the story clearly enough: Kragujevac, Groningen, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Turin, Istanbul and Turin again, a left-sided player who found his best position later than most and made the most of it.