Uroš Đurđević (, ; born 2 March 1994), commonly known as Đuka, 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 ...

who plays as a striker for Spanish club

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sport ...

. Born in Serbia, he represents the Montenegro national team.

Club career

Early years

Đurđević made his first football steps at Obrenovac 1905, before joining the youth system of

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 ...

. He also briefly played for

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburm ...

, before joining the youth setup of

Rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

Rad

Đurđević made his senior debut for

on 28 August 2011, under manager Slavko Petrović, coming on as a substitute for

Luka Milivojević Luka Milivojević ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Миливојевић, ; born 7 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for club Crystal Palace, where he was the captain. He was a member of the Serbia national te ...

in a 1–2 home league loss to

Sloboda Užice A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for " freedom" and may be loosely ...

. He appeared in a total of seven league games in his debut season, exclusively as a substitute. On 17 November 2012, Đurđević scored his first ever senior goal for Rad, giving his team a 1–0 home league win over

Hajduk Kula FK Hajduk Kula (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Хајдук Кула) was a Serbian football club based in Kula. The club was named after a Hajduk, a much celebrated hero figure in the Serbian epic poetry. On 30 July 2013, just eleven days before start ...

. He netted a total of nine league goals in the 2012–13 campaign, led by Marko Nikolić, helping his team finish middle of the table. Despite numerous speculation during the 2013 summer transfer window, Đurđević eventually stayed with the ''Građevinari'' until the end of the year.

Vitesse

In January 2014, Đurđević joined Dutch club Vitesse and was given the number 9 shirt. He made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

debut on 7 February 2014, entering the match as an 88th-minute substitute for

Lucas Piazon Lucas Domingues Piazon (born 20 January 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Primeira Liga club S.C. Braga. He plays as a second striker or a winger, as an attacking midfielder. He spent a decade at Chelsea, though he on ...

in a 0–0 home draw with ADO Den Haag. Until the end of the 2013–14 Eredivisie, Đurđević made five more appearances, coming on as a substitute in all five games, but failed to score any goals. On 30 July 2014, Đurđević scored the last goal in a 1–3 friendly loss to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He was still struggling to earn a first team spot in the 2014–15 campaign, despite scoring regularly for the reserves. On 1 February 2015, two minutes after replacing

Bertrand Traoré Bertrand Isidore Traoré (born 6 September 1995) is a Burkinabé professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa and the Burkina Faso national team. A ...

, Đurđević scored the only goal in the 85th minute to give Vitesse a 1–0 win over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. The goal was compared to Dennis Bergkamp's one against Newcastle United from 2002. After featuring in two games early into the 2015–16 season, Đurđević terminated his contract with Vitesse by mutual agreement on 14 August 2015.

Palermo

On 18 August 2015, Đurđević was signed by Italian club Palermo. He marked his

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 Cop ...

debut by scoring an 88th-minute equalizer after coming off the bench in a 2–2 home draw with

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

on 13 September 2015. Unfortunately, in his second appearance for the ''Rosanero'', Đurđević fractured his ankle in a game against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

on 19 September 2015. He returned to action on 12 December 2015, being substituted at half-time by

Alberto Gilardino Alberto Gilardino (; born 5 July 1982) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who played as a striker. He is currently in charge as caretaker of Genoa, a club he was contracted with on July 2022 as a youth coach. A p ...

, in an eventual 4–1 win over

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. On 7 February 2016, Đurđević scored his second goal in Serie A, netting the equalizer in a 2–2 draw against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

. He collected a total of 14 league appearances and scored two times in the 2015–16 campaign.

Partizan

2016–17 season

On 22 August 2016, Đurđević returned to his homeland and signed with

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 ...

, on a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 27 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Valeri Bojinov Valeri Emilov Bojinov ( bg, Валери Емилов Божинов, ; born 15 February 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Throughout his career, Bojinov has played for seventeen different clubs during his ...

in a 4–0 home win over his former club Rad. On 21 September, Đurđević scored his first two goals for Partizan in a 3–1

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 f ...

win over

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 Fudbalski klub Napredak () is a f ...

. He scored his first goal in the league on 2 October in a 3–1 home win over

Mladost Lučani Mladost (meaning "youth" in Slavic languages) may refer to: Placenames *Mladost, Sofia, municipality of Sofia, Bulgaria * Mladost, Varna, municipality of Varna, Bulgaria * Mladost, Obrenovac, municipality of city Obrenovac, Serbia. Association fo ...

. On 11 December, Đurđević netted a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

to lead Partizan to a 3–1 win away at Čukarički. He opened the scoring after just 10 seconds into the match, setting the record for the fastest ever goal in the top flight of Serbian football. On 4 March 2017, Đurđević scored his first goal in the Belgrade derby, heading in

Miroslav Vulićević Miroslav Vulićević (; born 29 May 1985) is a retired Serbian professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early years Vulićević began playing football at Kosmet Leposavić, before moving to Bane. He made his debut for their ...

's cross in the 88th minute of a 1–1 away draw. He found the back of the net seven times in the next six fixtures, eventually finishing the campaign as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, as well as his teammate

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

, helping Partizan win the title. His performances also earned him the league's Player of the Season award and selection in the competition's Team of the Season. In the second part of the season, Đurđević also scored two more goals in the Serbian Cup, as the club collected the double.

2017–18 season

On 11 July 2017, Đurđević scored his first goal in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur asso ...

, converting a penalty kick in a 2–0 home win over Budućnost Podgorica in the first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round. He subsequently netted once in the league's opener versus

Mačva Šabac Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; hu, Macsó) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is nam ...

on 22 July, an eventual 6–1 home victory. On 2 August, Đurđević scored an 85th-minute equalizer to give his team a 2–2 draw against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in the return leg of the Champions League third qualifying round, as Partizan were eliminated 3–5 on aggregate. He eventually helped the side reach the group stage of the Europa League after scoring a brace in a 4–0 victory away at Videoton in the competition's play-off round second leg.

Olympiacos

On 30 August 2017, Đurđević was transferred to Greek club

for €2.5 million plus 15% from future transfer fee. He made his league debut for the side in a 1–1 away draw against

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope m ...

on 9 September, being substituted for

Emmanuel Emenike Emmanuel Chinenye Emenike (born 10 May 1987) is a Nigerian former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He most recently played for Belgian club K.V.C. Westerlo, Westerlo. Club caree ...

in the 60th minute. Three days later, Đurđević played 62 minutes on his Champions League debut, before being replaced by Emenike again in an eventual 3–2 home loss to

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 16 September, converting a penalty in second-half injury time versus

Asteras Tripoli Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, G ...

in a 1–1 home draw. Throughout the 2017–18 season with Olympiacos, Đurđević made 30 appearances in all competitions and scored seven goals in the process.

Sporting Gijón

On 21 August 2018, Đurđević moved to Spain and joined Segunda División side

. He became the most expensive transfer in the club's history, for an estimated amount of €2.5 million. On 11 October 2020, after scoring three goals in the first three matches of the season, Đurđević was named Segunda División Player of the Month of September.

International career

Youth

Initially, Đurđević represented

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

at the 2012 UEFA Under-19 Championship, as the team exited the tournament at the group stage. He subsequently led them to the 2013 UEFA Under-19 Championship, scoring a brace against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in the elite qualifying round. At the final tournament, Đurđević was one of the team's most influential players, scoring the opening goal in the semi-final 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 ...

, as they progressed through to the final after penalties. Serbia eventually won the title after defeating

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

1–0 in the gold medal match. On 22 March 2013, Đurđević made his debut for Serbia at under-21 level in a 1–2 friendly loss away against the Netherlands U21s. He scored his first goal for the team on 14 August 2013, in a 4–1 home friendly win over the Macedonia under-21 side. Afterwards, Đurđević was their regular member during the UEFA Under-21 Championship 2015 qualifying stage, as Serbia qualified to the

final tournament 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 ...

. He ultimately declined a call-up by Mladen Dodić in order to better prepare for the next season. In the UEFA Under-21 Championship 2017 qualifying stage, Đurđević was the team's top scorer with nine goals, while captaining the side on most occasions. He netted a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win over

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in the final group match. In addition, Đurđević scored once in the first leg of the

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

versus

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, as Serbia ultimately secured a spot in the

. He was named in the final 23-man squad by newly appointed manager

Nenad Lalatović Nenad Lalatović (, ; born 22 December 1977) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is currently coaching the team Radnički Niš. Club career Lalatović came through the youth system of hometown club Red Star Belgra ...

in May 2017. In the second match of the group stage, Đurđević scored a header late to earn a 2–2 draw with Macedonia. He concluded his youth national team career on 23 June 2017, receiving a red card during the first half of Serbia's game against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Senior

On 9 March 2017, Đurđević received his first call-up to the full squad by manager

Slavoljub Muslin Slavoljub Muslin ( sr-Cyrl, Славољуб Муслин, ; born 15 June 1953) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Muslin began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine ...

for Serbia's World Cup 2018 qualifier against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He was an unused substitute in an eventual 3–1 success. In 2021, he became a citizen of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

and accepted an invitation to the

Montenegro national football team The Montenegro national football team ( cnr, Фудбалска репрезентација Црне Горе, Fudbalska reprezentacija Crne Gore) has represented Montenegro in international football since 2007. It is controlled by the Football ...

. His father was born in Titograd (now

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

, Montenegro), which was a condition cited for him becoming a Montenegrin citizen. He made his debut on 24 March 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Personal life

His younger brother, Kristijan (b. 1996), is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

: 2016–17 *

: 2016–17 Serbia * UEFA Under-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 fa ...

Individual *

top scorer: 2016–17 * Serbian SuperLiga Player of the Season: 2016–17 *

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 ...

: 2016–17 * Segunda División Player of the Month: September 2020 Records * Serbia U21 all-time top scorer: 16 goals

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Durdevic, Uros 1994 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Montenegrin footballers Montenegro international footballers Serbian footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia youth international footballers Serbian people of Montenegrin descent Serbs of Montenegro Association football forwards FK Rad players SBV Vitesse players Palermo F.C. players FK Partizan players Olympiacos F.C. players Sporting de Gijón players Serbian SuperLiga players Eredivisie players Serie A players Super League Greece players Segunda División players Montenegrin expatriate footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands