Lazar Vujadin Samardžić (Serbian Cyrillic: Лазар Вујадин Самарџић, pronounced [lâzaːr sǎmaːrdʒitɕ]; born 24 February 2002) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Serie A club Atalanta, on loan from Udinese. Born in Germany, he plays for the Serbia national team.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lazar Vujadin Samardžić[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 24 February 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Berlin, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, left winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Atalanta (on loan from Udinese) | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FK Hercegovac | |||
| Blau-Weiß Spandau | |||
| Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln | |||
| –2009 | Grün-Weiss Neukölln | ||
| 2009–2020 | Hertha BSC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2020 | Hertha BSC II | 5 | (1) |
| 2020 | Hertha BSC | 3 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | RB Leipzig | 7 | (0) |
| 2021– | Udinese | 93 | (13) |
| 2024– | → Atalanta (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017–2018 | Germany U16 | ||
| 2022–2023 | Germany U21 | 5 | (2) |
| 2023– | Serbia | 17 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:43, 14 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024 | |||
Club career
editHertha BSC
editYouth
editSamardžić played for BSV Grün-Weiss Neukölln 1950 e.V. from 2008 to 2009[4] and joined Hertha BSC from 9 October 2009.[3][5] Samardžić played for the U17 and U19 teams of Hertha BSC in the Under 17 and Under 19 Bundesliga, scoring 16 and 14 goals respectively.[6] Samardžić won the bronze award of the Fritz Walter Medal in the U17 group.[7][8]
First team
editSamardžić was announced to have signed a professional contract, and first appeared as an unused substitute for the professional team in a 3–3 away draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf on 28 February 2020.[9][10]
Samardžić made his debut for Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga on 22 May 2020, coming on as a substitute for Per Ciljan Skjelbred in the 81st minute of the Berlin derby against Union Berlin, which finished as a 4–0 win.[11] Samardzic is considered one of Germany's most talented prospects and he has attracted serious interest from elite clubs around the world, such as Chelsea, Barcelona and Juventus.[12][13]
RB Leipzig
editOn 8 September 2020, Samardžić joined fellow Bundesliga side RB Leipzig on a five-year deal.[14] He made his RB Leipzig debut on 3 October, coming off the bench in a 4–0 win against FC Schalke 04.
Udinese
editAhead of the 2021–22 season, 19-year-old Samardžić moved to Italian Serie A club Udinese. He signed a five-year contract.[15]
Atalanta
editOn 18 August 2024, Samardžić joined fellow Serie A side Atalanta on loan, with an obligation to make the transfer permanent under certain conditions.[16] Later that year, on 26 November, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 6–1 away victory over Young Boys.[17]
International career
editSamardžić played for Berlin at the Under-15 level and Germany at the Under-17 and Under-19 levels. He first appeared internationally and played two matches in the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification against Belarus and Slovenia.[6][18][19] He then played in all three matches of the group stage of the tournament, scoring once, but the team failed to progress to the knockout stage. For the U-19 level, he played in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, scoring twice.[6]
Serbia national team
editIn February 2023, the Football Association of Serbia announced that Samardžić had accepted manager Dragan Stojković's invitation to switch his allegiance to Serbia on his 21st birthday.[20] He subsequently received his first official call-up to the Serbian senior national team the following month, being included in the list for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Lithuania and Montenegro.[21]
On 25 March 2023, Samardžić made his debut for Serbia in a 2–0 win over Lithuania in Belgrade.[22]
Samardžić was selected in Serbia's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024. He played in group stage matches against Slovenia and Denmark. Serbia finished fourth in the group.
Personal life
editSamardžić was born in Berlin, and he is a Serb from Bosnia and Herzegovina. His father hails from Živinice, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[23]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 14 December 2024[24]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hertha BSC II | 2019–20 | Regionalliga Nordost | 5 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 1 | ||
| Hertha BSC | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| RB Leipzig | 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Udinese | 2021–22 | Serie A | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 24 | 2 | |
| 2022–23 | 37 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 5 | |||
| 2023–24 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 34 | 6 | |||
| 2024–25 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 93 | 13 | 5 | 0 | — | 98 | 13 | |||
| Atalanta (loan) | 2024–25 | Serie A | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5[b] | 1 | 19 | 3 |
| Career total | 122 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 134 | 17 | ||
- ^ Includes DFB-Pokal, Coppa Italia
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
edit- As of match played 18 November 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia | 2023 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 17 | 0 | |
Honours
editRB Leipzig
Individual
- Fritz Walter Medal U17 Bronze: 2019[25]
References
edit- ^ Birlanga, Javier (15 June 2022). "El Barça acapara la lista del 'Golden Boy 2022' con cinco candidatos". Goal.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ a b Lazar Samardžić at WorldFootball.net
- ^ a b "Lazar Samardžić | Player profile". Bundesliga. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "U 17: Einst Amateurverein, mittlerweile Nationalspieler". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Hertha BSC - HerthaBSC.de". www.herthabsc.de (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Germany - L. Samardžić - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ Quinn, Phillip (13 August 2019). "Fritz Walter Medals awarded to Germany's top youth players". Bavarian Football Works. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "Gold Fritz Walter medals for Kühn, Bühl and Adeyemi". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "A comeback on the Rhein - Teams - HerthaBSC.de". www.herthabsc.de (in German). Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Wird dieses Hertha-Talent der neue Max Kruse? – Meldung". tekk.tv. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Germany » Bundesliga 2019/2020 » 27. Round » Hertha BSC – 1. FC Union Berlin 4:0". WorldFootball.net. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ "Lazar Samardzic: Barcelona and Juventus chasing Germany's latest wonderkid | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ "Bild: Chelsea among top clubs targeting Hertha Berlin prospect Lazar Samardžić". Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ "RB Leipzig sign Lazar Samardzic from Hertha Berlin". Bundesliga. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ "Lazar Samardžić è bianconero < Squadra < News < Udinese" (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Samardžić becomes Atalanta's seventh summer signing". Atalanta BC. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Young Boys "knocked for six" in Bern and another UCL win!". Atalanta BC. 26 November 2024.
- ^ UEFA.com. "Germany-Belarus | Under-17". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ UEFA.com. "Slovenia-Germany | Under-17". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ "МЛАДИ И ТАЛЕНТОВАНИ АС УДИНЕЗЕА ЛАЗАР САМАРЏИЋ ПРИХВАТИО ПОЗИВ СЕЛЕКТОРА ДРАГАНА СТОЈКОВИЋА". fss.rs (in Serbian). 24 February 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "СЕЛЕКТОР ДРАГАН СТОЈКОВИЋ САОПШТИО СПИСАК ИГРАЧА ЗА УВОДНЕ МЕЧЕВЕ КВАЛИФИКАЦИЈА ЗА ЕУРО 2024. ПРОТИВ ЛИТВАНИЈЕ И ЦРНЕ ГОРЕ". fss.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Nemac koga je "majka Srbija pozvala": Ko je Lazar Samardžić, novi fudbaler Intera koji je "postao Srbin" zahvaljujući Piksiju". Danas (in Serbian). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Škorić, E. (18 July 2020). "Uspostavljeni kontakti: Juventus dovodi 18-godišnje čudo čiji je otac rođen u selu kod Živinica". SportSport.ba (in Croatian).
- ^ "L. Samardzic". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
- ^ "Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold an Kühn, Bühl und Adeyemi" (in German). German Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
External links
edit- Lazar Samardžić at DFB (also available in German)
- Lazar Samardžić at Soccerway