Miloš Veljković (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Вељковић, pronounced [mǐloʃ ʋěːʎkoʋitɕ]; born 26 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Werder Bremen. Born in Switzerland, he represents Serbia at international level.

Miloš Veljković
Veljković with Serbia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Miloš Veljković[1]
Date of birth (1995-09-26) 26 September 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Basel, Switzerland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2][3]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Werder Bremen
Number 13
Youth career
2000–2011 Basel
2011–2015 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (0)
2014–2015Middlesbrough (loan) 3 (0)
2015Charlton Athletic (loan) 3 (0)
2016 Werder Bremen II 8 (0)
2016– Werder Bremen 212 (6)
International career
2011 Switzerland U16 1 (0)
2012 Serbia U17 3 (1)
2013–2014 Serbia U19 10 (1)
2015 Serbia U20 8 (1)
2014–2017 Serbia U21 14 (0)
2017– Serbia 35 (1)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Serbia
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2015 New Zealand U-20 Team
UEFA U-19 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2013 Lithuania
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:39, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024

Club career

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Early career

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Born in Basel in Switzerland to Serbian parents, Veljković started his professional footballing career at Swiss side FC Basel.

Tottenham Hotspur

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Miloš Veljković joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2011 from FC Basel. He made his Premier League debut on 8 April 2014 against Sunderland in a 5–1 home win, replacing Paulinho after 88 minutes. He got a longer run out on 11 May against Aston Villa when he came on for Sandro in the 62nd minute.[4]

Veljković went on loan to Middlesbrough in the Championship on 16 October 2014 for three months.[5] Due to the form of the midfield duo of Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton in central midfield, he was limited to a few substitute appearances and his loan was not extended in January.

On 20 January 2015, Veljković joined Charlton Athletic on loan until the end of the season.[6] However, he picked a shoulder injury in his third match for Charlton which ruled him out of contention.[7]

Werder Bremen

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Veljković joined Werder Bremen on 1 February 2016, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal, for a reported fee of €300,000.[8] On 24 September 2016, he made his first appearance for the first team of the 2016–17 season in a 2–1 victory against VfL Wolfsburg on matchday 5, the club's first win of the season; he played the full 90 minutes as centre-back after Lamine Sané had dropped out with knee problems in the warmup to the match.[9]

He agreed a contract extension with the club in June 2018.[10]

in June 2022, after Werder Bremen's return to the Bundesliga in the 2021–22 season, Veljković signed another contract extension with the club, reportedly until 2025.[11]

International career

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Veljković was born in Switzerland to Serbian parents, he initially represented Switzerland U16's before pledging his allegiance to Serbia. He played for the Serbia U19 team which won the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.[12] In the summer of 2015, he also won the FIFA U-20 World Cup for Serbia U20's as part of a Golden Generation coming through for the Serbia national team. Veljković played every game as centre back.[13]

He made his debut for the Serbia national team on 11 November 2017 in a friendly match against China.[14]

In June 2018, he was included in the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup,[15] where he appeared in the match against Brazil.[16]

In November 2022, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[17] He played in all three group stage matches, against Brazil,[18] Cameroon,[19] and Switzerland.[20] Serbia finished fourth in the group.[21]

Veljković was part of the Serbia squad for UEFA Euro 2024 and started the team's opening match of the tournament against England, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 loss.[22]

Style of play

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Veljković has played both as centre back and as a defensive midfielder. He revealed that he prefers to play as a defensive midfielder in club football, and prefers to play as a centre back during international football.[13]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 3 December 2024[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tottenham Hotspur 2013–14 Premier League 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2014–15 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Middlesbrough (loan) 2014–15 Championship 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2014–15 Championship 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Werder Bremen II 2015–16 3. Liga 5 0 5 0
2016–17 3 0 3 0
Total 8 0 8 0
Werder Bremen 2015–16 Bundesliga 3 0 1 0 4 0
2016–17 26 0 0 0 26 0
2017–18 30 1 4 1 34 2
2018–19 23 1 3 0 26 1
2019–20 24 0 2 0 2[b] 0 28 0
2020–21 23 0 3 0 26 0
2021–22 2. Bundesliga 26 1 0 0 26 1
2022–23 Bundesliga 29 1 2 0 31 1
2023–24 23 2 0 0 23 2
2024–25 5 0 3 0 8 0
Total 212 6 18 1 2 0 233 7
Career total 228 6 19 1 1 0 2 0 250 7
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs

International

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As of 18 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2017 2 0
2018 7 0
2019 0 0
2020 0 0
2021 6 0
2022 9 0
2023 5 1
2024 6 0
Total 35 1
Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Veljković goal.
List of international goals scored by Miloš Veljković
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 November 2023 Dubočica Stadium, Leskovac, Serbia 29   Bulgaria 1–0 2–2 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Honours

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Serbia U19

Serbia U20

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Serbia (SRB)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 26. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Milos Veljkovic". SV Werder Bremen. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Tottenham vs. Sunderland - 7 April 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Middlesbrough sign Spurs defender Milos Veljkovic on loan". BBC Sport. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Charlton sign Milos Veljkovic on loan from Tottenham Hotspur". Charlton Athletic F.C. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Milos Veljkovic interview: Tottenham youngster eager to join Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb in the Spurs first-team". The Independent. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022.
  8. ^ Knips, Björn (31 January 2016). "Noch ein Neuer: Veljkovic kommt" [Another new boy: Veljkovic joins]. Kreiszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Werder mit Last-Minute-Tor zum ersten Saisonsieg". Sportschau (in German). 24 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Vorzeitig verlängert: Veljkovic setzt "klares Statement"". kicker Online (in German). 8 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Werder-Profi Milos Veljkovic verlängert Vertrag bis 2025". Weser Kurier (in German). 11 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ^ [1] UEFA: Luković strike seals first Serbia triumph - 1 August 2013
  13. ^ a b "Milos Veljkovic: Tottenham's Under-20 World Cup winner wants to make impact in the Premier League, but this season about experience". The Independent. 3 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Internationals (Sky Sports)". SkySports. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Soccer: Krstajic names Serbia's final 23-man World Cup squad". reuters.com. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  16. ^ Andrew Das (27 June 2018). "World Cup: Brazil cruises into next round with easy victory". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Ames, Nick (2 December 2022). "Switzerland advance and Serbia go out as Freuler finish settles stormy contest". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  21. ^ Mendola, Nicholas (2 December 2022). "World Cup 2022 Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Cameroon, Switzerland schedule, fixtures, rankings". NBC Sports. Lusail. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Serbia 0-1 England LIVE: UEFA Euro 2024 - score, updates & reaction". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  23. ^ "M. Veljkovic". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
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