Nikola Vukčević ( cnr, Никола Bукчeвић, ; born 13 December 1991), also known as Điđo (Ђиђо), is a Montenegrin professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

side Al-Ahli. Vukčević began his professional career with Budućnost. He debuted for the Montenegro national team in 2014.

Club career

Budućnost

From 2010 to 2013, Vukčević played for local club Budućnost, where he earned 65 caps and scored four goals. During the 2011–12 season, he emerged as one of the best youngsters in the country, and became Budućnost's captain during their title run. In the following season, Vukčević became the most valuable player in Budućnost squad, starting in 27 out of 33 league matches - the most appearances he made during one season at the time. His good performances earned him a starting spot in Montenegro's U21 selection.

Braga

Vukčević left Budućnost as a free agent due to the expiration of his contract. In September 2013, he signed for

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, and initially made appearances for their reserve team. He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 win against

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished thir ...

, coming on as a 91st-minute substitute for Felipe Pardo in the Minho derby. He became a regular substitute on Braga's first squad and would occasionally start in matches of

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

and

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

Levante

On 9 August 2018, Vukčević moved to Spanish club Levante for a €8.9 million fee and signed a four-year contract.

International career

In August 2012 he participated in the

Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament ( uk, Турнір Пам'яті Валерія Лобановського) is an international football tournament established in honour and memory of Valeri Lobanovsky since his death on 13 May 2002, hence th ...

2012, where his team lost in the final to Slovakia on penalties and took home silver medals. Vukčević made his debut against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 5 March 2014 in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

1–0 win. Though he started the match, Nemanja Nikolić substituted him in the 65th minute. As of 19 October 2020, he has earned a total of 44 caps, scoring 1 goal.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.''

Honours

Budućnost Podgorica * Prva CFL: 2011–12 *

Montenegrin Cup The Montenegrin Cup ( Montenegrin and Serbian: ''Kup Crne Gore'') is the national football cup played in Montenegro, established in 2006. The winner of the cup is awarded a spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League if they h ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Braga *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vukcevic, Nikola 1991 births Living people Footballers from Podgorica Association football midfielders Montenegrin footballers Montenegro under-21 international footballers Montenegro international footballers FK Budućnost Podgorica players S.C. Braga B players S.C. Braga players Levante UD footballers Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Montenegrin First League players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players La Liga players Qatar Stars League players Montenegrin expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Qatar