Predrag Rajković ( sr-cyr, Предраг Рајковић, ; born 31 October 1995) is a Serbian 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and the Serbia national team.

Club career

Jagodina

Born in Negotin, he started training when he was 7 years old with his father Saša, who is also a former goalkeeper of

Hajduk Veljko Veljko Petrović ( sr-cyr, Вељко Петровић, ; c. 1780 – 1813), known simply as Hajduk Veljko (Хајдук Вељко, ǎjduːk v̞ɛ̌ːʎkɔ, was one of the '' vojvodas'' (military commanders) of the Serbian Revolutionary force ...

. He was with his hometown club until 2009, when he moved to Jagodina. For next 4 years, he played for youth teams of Jagodina, and was with first team since 2011–12 season, and was licensed with jersey number 45. Next season, Bondžulić changed his squad number to 11 again, so Rajković took 1. Although Bondžulić was the first choice, Rajković mainly was his reserve in front of competitors Petar Jokić and Stevica Zdravković. He made his professional debut for Jagodina on 9 March 2013 in a Serbian SuperLiga match versus

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

. Until the end of

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 ...

season, he made one more match against

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

. After Bondžulić's departure,

Anđelko Đuričić Anđelko Đuričić (Serbian Cyrillic: Анђелко Ђуричић; born 21 November 1980) is a Serbian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Club career Đuričić start ...

joined Jagodina. After first fixture and lose against

Napredak Kruševac Napredak may refer to: *HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina * FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Banatska Topola, Serbian football club *NK SAŠK Nap ...

Mladen Dodić Mladen Dodić (; born 17 October 1969) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career After starting out at Borac Bivolje, Dodić joined Napredak Kruševac in 1990. He spent seven seasons with the club, before moving to Železnik ...

decided to give Rajković a chance, because of his merits in winning

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

. But, after 2 appearances in new season, Rajković left to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

. Jagodina should receive 30 percent of his next transfer.

Red Star Belgrade

2013–14 season

He signed a four-year contract with

on 28 August 2013, and took the jersey number 95, according to year of his birth. He acted as a backup to

Boban Bajković Boban Bajković (; born 15 March 1985) is a Montenegro, Montenegrin former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Born in Cetinje, Bajković made his first senior ...

, and fought for a place on the bench with

Miloš Vesić Miloš Vesić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Весић; born 23 July 1989) is a Serbian professional footballer, whose position is goalkeeper. He plays for GFK Jagodina. Club career Red Star Belgrade In July 2011, Vesić moved to Red Star Belgr ...

. He made his official debut for

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

in last fixture against Vojvodina.

2014–15 season

After Bajković's and Vesić's departures, Rajković stayed with a year younger

Filip Manojlović Filip Manojlović ( sr-cyr, Филип Манојловић, ; born 25 April 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Spartak Subotica. Club career Red Star Belgrade Early years & loan spells Born in Belgrade, M ...

and

Marko Trkulja Marko may refer to: * Marko (given name) * Marko (surname) * Márkó, a village in Hungary See also *Marco (disambiguation) *Markko (disambiguation) *Marka (disambiguation) *Markov *Marku Marku is an Albanian surname. Notable people with the ...

who returned from Spartak Subotica, where he was on loan. Club management decided to sign a more experienced goalkeeper, and

Damir Kahriman Damir Kahriman ( sr-Cyrl, Дамир Кахриман; born 19 November 1984) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He was a member of the Serbia national under-21 football team, especially during the 2007 UEFA European ...

joined

. But Kahriman couldn't play at the beginning of the season because of administrative problems, so Rajković started the season as a first choice. After Milijaš's departure,

Mijailović Mijailović ( sr-Cyrl, Мијаиловић) is a Serbian surname, a patronymic derived from the masculine given name Mijailo. Notable people with the name include: *Mijailo Mijailović (born 1978), self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Sw ...

's suspension,

Luković Luković is a Serbian surname that may refer to: *Aleksandar Luković, (b. 1924.), Serbian art painter *Aleksandar Luković, (b. 1982), Serbian footballer * Vojislav Lukovic, ( b.1960), Serbian iconographer and art restorer * Ivan Lukovic, ( b.1950) ...

's injury, and Lazović's conflict with management, coach

Nenad Lalatović Nenad Lalatović (, ; born 22 December 1977) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently coaching the team FK Radnički Niš, Radnički Niš. Club career Lalatov ...

decided to give the captain's armband to Rajković. He had 16 clean sheets in 28 league appearances, and was selected as the best goalkeeper in 2014–15 season, chosen by other players.

2015–16 season

On 29 June 2015, Rajković signed a new three-year contract with Red Star, after days of speculation about his potential transfer away from the club. After winning

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament, many European clubs wanted Rajković, including French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, Belgian side

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

and according to some reports Italian giant

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club A.C. Milan. The Crvena zvezda captain was also a top target for Paris Saint Germain along with

Kevin Trapp Kevin Christian Trapp (; born 8 July 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team. He began his professional career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he ...

, who signed for Les Parisiens at the end. Rajković was the best member in team during both matches against Kairat in the first qualifying round of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Rajković kept the team from suffering a deeper loss with some incredible saves. The coach of Kairat, Vladimír Weiss, said after the game that Rajković is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. After great saves in first rounds of the Serbian SuperLiga, despite Zvezda's poor start, Turkish champion Galatasaray declared interest in him. Predrag Rajković was one of the contestants at

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

qualifying draw, which took place at the

Konstantinovsky Palace Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore of ...

in Strelna,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

on 25 July 2015.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 29 August 2015, Rajković signed a five-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv. The transfer fee was €3 million. On 30 August, Rajković made his Israeli Premier League debut in a 1–0 victory over

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...

during the second league match of the season. Rajković made 43 appearances in all competitions, including Israeli Premier League,

State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Israel, Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first he ...

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

in which he did not play and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. He noted 21 clean sheets at total until the end of 2015–16 season. Rajković also continued playing as the first choice

in the

2016–17 Israeli Premier League The 2016–17 Israeli Premier League was the eighteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 75th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 20 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. Hapoel Be'er Sheva won a back-to-back title, fi ...

season. During the first half-season, he also made 14 appearances in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, which the club ended at third place in group stage. Rajković made an assist to

Viðar Örn Kjartansson Viðar Örn Kjartansson (; born 11 March 1990) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece club Atromitos. Club career Viðar made his debut for Selfoss in 2006, aged 16. He joined Icelandic top di ...

in the

match against

Hapoel Bnei Lod Hapoel Bnei Lod Rakevet F.C. () are a football club, from the central Israeli city of Lod. The club plays in an all-red kit, and are currently in , the third tier of Israeli football. Home matches are played at the Lod Municipal Stadium. Histor ...

played on 7 January 2017, saving a shot from the opponent's previous attack. In May same year, Rajković was elected for the club's player of the season in an inner club event. On 14 December 2017, Rajković won the

trophy with Maccabi, beating

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

match of the competition.

Reims

On 23 July 2019, Rajković signed a four-year contract with

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

. The transfer fee was €3 million. Rajkovic was brought in for the outgoing Edouard Mendy, who was on his way to

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

after a summer of heavy speculation on his future. Mendy had been hugely impressive in his first season in

, keeping 14 clean sheets bettered only by Lyon's

Anthony Lopes Anthony Lopes (; born 1 October 1990) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon and the Portugal national football team, Portugal na ...

and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

's Walter Benitez. In his first season in the

Champagne region The wine region within the historical province of Champagne in the northeast of France is best known for the production of champagne, the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name. EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term " ...

, Rajković will have youth academy product Nicolas Lemaitre as a backup. Rajković made his debut on 10 August 2019 in a 2–0 away win against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Mallorca

On 22 July 2022, Rajković signed for

club

on a four-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Reims was of €4.5 million, with a sell-on clause included in the deal as well.

International career

Youth

Rajković was a member of the Serbia U-16 and Serbia U-17 national teams. Rajković was one of the most deserving players for winning the

, when he saved goal many times with great interventions and stopped penalties. Next year, he also was one of the best, but Serbia lost against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the semi-final after penalties. Rajković lead the team in the

with the captain's armband. After group stage and first place, Serbia beat Hungary after extra time. In the quarter-final, Rajković saved 2 penalties and missed one in a penalty shootout against the USA. After Maksimović's goal, Serbia advanced to the next round. In the final, Rajković was one of the most important men on the field, keeping the result with incredible saves. The captain of

Serbia national under-20 football team The Serbia national under-20 football team (Serbian Latin: ''Omladinska reprezentacija Srbije'') is the national under-20 football team of Serbia. Like the senior national team, it is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. On 2015 FIF ...

won the nomination for the best goalkeeper in the competition.

Radovan Ćurčić Radovan Ćurčić (; born 10 January 1972) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career Ćurčić started out at his hometown club Javor Ivanjica, before going on to play for OFK Beograd, Gorica (Slovenia), and Borac Čačak. ...

, coach of Serbia U-21, called him for a friendly match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, played on 6 February 2013.

Senior

Rajković was called in Serbia national team under coach Siniša Mihajlović. He debuted for the senior team on 7 August 2013 against Colombia. In June 2018 he was selected in Serbia’s squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

, but he did not make any appearances there as he was backup to

Vladimir Stojković Vladimir Stojković (, ; born 28 July 1983) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Saudi club Al-Fayha as a goalkeeper. During his career he played for the two biggest clubs in his country, Red Star and Partizan, but also represente ...

. In November 2022, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar, but he didn't make any appearance there, as Vanja Milinković-Savić was the first-choice goalkeeper.

Personal life

On 8 August 2018, Rajković married his Serbian girlfriend Ana Cakić. Predrag picked his teammate from Serbian national team,

Saša Zdjelar Saša Zdjelar ( sr-Cyrl, Саша Здјелар; born 20 March 1995) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Russian club CSKA Moscow as a midfielder. Club career Zdjelar made his senior debut for OFK Beograd in a 3–0 home league w ...

, for his best man on the wedding. They have two sons together.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Jagodina *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...

Red Star Belgrade * Serbian SuperLiga: 2013–14 Maccabi Tel Aviv * Israeli Premier League: 2018–19 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 Serbia * UEFA European U-19 Championship:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* FIFA U-20 World Cup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual * The Best Young Athlete of Serbia: 2013 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

* FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Glove:

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Serbian football, the SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. Winners 2008–09 Source 2009–10 ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

Profile
at the RCD Mallorca website *
Predrag Rajković stats
at utakmica.rs * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajkovic, Predrag 1995 births Living people People from Negotin Serbian footballers Association football goalkeepers Serbia youth international footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia international footballers FK Jagodina players Red Star Belgrade footballers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Stade de Reims players RCD Mallorca players Serbian SuperLiga players Israeli Premier League players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Israel Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate footballers in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players