Sergej Milinković-Savić

About Sergej Milinković-Savić

Sergej Milinković-Savić holds Spanish as well as Serbian nationality for a simple reason: he was born in Lleida, in Catalonia, in February 1995, while his father was playing football in Spain. The family returned to Serbia, and it was there, at Vojvodina in Novi Sad, that he played his first senior season, 2013–14. A very tall midfielder with soft feet was not a common sight, and he did not stay in Serbia long.

In 2014 he moved to Genk in Belgium, a club known for developing young talent and selling it on. His single season there, 2014–15, gave him exposure to a more demanding league and a stronger shop window. In the same summer of 2015 he was part of the Serbia squad that won the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand, and Lazio moved to bring him to Rome.

The eight seasons at Lazio, 2015 to 2023, are the heart of his career. He arrived as a raw prospect and left as one of the most recognisable midfielders in Serie A. Supporters nicknamed him Il Sergente, the sergeant, and the name suited a player who imposed himself physically while also having the technique of a creative number ten. He scored with his head from set pieces, arrived late in the box for cut-backs, could play a delicate through ball, and occasionally tried the kind of flicks and backheels nobody expects from someone so tall. For years he was the first name Lazio fans would mention when asked who carried the team.

That combination made him a frequent transfer rumour across Europe for several summers, but he kept staying in Rome. Lazio built around him through different coaching projects, and he became one of the club's longest-serving and most influential players of the modern era. With Serbia he grew into a regular in the senior team and played at World Cups.

In 2023 he took a different path, moving to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest clubs in Asia, as part of the wave of established European players heading to the Saudi Pro League. In Riyadh he has kept playing a central role in a squad full of international names.

His family has another footballing branch: his brother Vanja Milinković-Savić is a goalkeeper who has also played in Serie A, which made for some unusual sibling headlines whenever their teams met in Italy.

His leagues read like a map: the Belgian Pro League, Serie A, and the Pro League in Saudi Arabia. Three steps abroad after a short start in Novi Sad, with Rome as the long, defining middle.