Adem Ljajić ( sr-Cyrl, Адем Љајић, ; born 29 September 1991) 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 lea ...
who plays as an
attacking midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
for
Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...
.
Ljajić began his career with FK Jošanica, and later
Partizan, with whom he made his debut in the
Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...
and
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
. In January 2010, he was set to join England's
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
,
but the club withdrew its option to sign him in December 2009. Instead, he joined
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
for a reported fee of around €8 million in January 2010.
In August 2013, after three years in Florence, Ljajić joined
Roma for an €11 million fee, signing a four-year contract.
In July 2016, he was sold to Torino.
Ljajić made his senior international debut for Serbia in 2010. From 2012 to 2014, he was frozen out of the team by manager
Siniša Mihajlović
Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and professional footballer who played as a defender.
Mihajlović had an illustrious playing career, winni ...
for objecting to singing the
Serbian national anthem. He was part of the Serbian squad at the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
. He earned a total of 47 caps, scoring 9 goals, and his final international was an October 2020
Nations League match against
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
.
Club career
Partizan
Born in
Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...
in the
Serbian region of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
, Ljajić joined
Partizan at age 14 in 2005, signing from Serbian lower-tier club FK Jošanica. Ljajić was the first player to wear the number 22 for Partizan after
Saša Ilić transferred to
Galatasaray in 2005.
Ljajić made an appearance for Partizan in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the
2008–09 UEFA Champions League
The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on 27 May 2009. ...
on 29 July 2008 as a second-half substitute. He made a second substitute appearance in the second leg and another substitute appearance in the second leg of the third qualifying round. He scored his first competitive goal for Partizan on 23 November 2008 in a league match against
OFK Beograd
OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...
.
In October 2008,
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
had given Ljajić a trial, although no information was given about the length of the trial initially. On 2 January 2009, Manchester United announced the signings of both Ljajić and his Partizan teammate,
Zoran Tošić. Tošić would join the club immediately while Ljajić would remain at Partizan for the remainder of 2009, joining United in January 2010.
Despite being unable to officially join the club until January 2010, Ljajić made regular trips to
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
throughout 2009 to train with the United first team, so the club's coaches could monitor his progress.
However, United decided not to take up their option to sign Ljajić due to issues surrounding the club's application for a work permit. Following the transfer's collapse, Partizan manager
Goran Stevanović claimed the situation had put Ljajić into "psychological shock" but that Ljajić was "handling the situation well".
Partizan director of football
Ivan Tomić said, "I think that they will regret this decision in future."
Fiorentina
On 13 January 2010, Italian
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
club
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
announced the signing of Ljajić. After passing a medical, Ljajić signed a five-year contract, with Partizan receiving a reported fee of €8 million for the player.
Ljajić made his debut in Fiorentina's 2–2 draw away to
Cagliari
Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
on 31 January 2010, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for
Manuel Pasqual. However, his first half-season at the club under head coach
Cesare Prandelli was spent settling into the new surroundings.
The arrival of Ljajić's compatriot
Siniša Mihajlović
Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and professional footballer who played as a defender.
Mihajlović had an illustrious playing career, winni ...
as head coach saw increased first-team opportunities for Ljajić. He scored his first ''Viola'' goal from the
penalty spot against
Lazio
Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
on 18 September 2010, which Fiorentina lost 1–2.
On 2 May 2012, Ljajić was substituted in a match against
Novara
Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...
. His reaction to this substitution was to sarcastically applaud the manager
Delio Rossi, who grabbed and attempted to punch Ljajić. Fiorentina announced after the match that Rossi had been dismissed as manager and that they would take proportionate measures against Ljajić. Ljajić's teammate
Valon Behrami, who was on the substitutes' bench at the time of the incident, said no one, including him, had heard Ljajić insult Rossi, which disproved Rossi's claims Ljajić insulted his family. Behrami added Rossi should be ashamed for his actions as well as for lying to the media.
Ljajić scored a brace as ''La Viola'' beat
Internazionale 4–1 on 17 February 2013.
Roma
Ljajić signed with
Roma on 28 August 2013 for a fee of €11 million, potentially rising to €15 million depending on the club's success, with Ljajić signing a four-year contract.
He chose the number 8 jersey, left vacant by
Erik Lamela, which Ljajić also used with the
Serbia national team. On 1 September 2013, Ljajić made his Roma debut in a match against
Hellas Verona, replacing
Alessandro Florenzi; Ljajić scored the final goal in 3–0 win. In his first season in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Ljajić scored 6 goals in 32 appearances.
On 30 August 2014, Ljajić made his
2014–15 season debut in a 2–0 win for the ''Giallorossi'' over Fiorentina. On 24 September, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 Roma victory over
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. On 6 December, he scored his first brace for Roma, which allowed Roma to come back and draw the home match against
Sassuolo
Sassuolo (; ) 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 for being the centre of the Ita ...
, which finished 2–2. On 26 February 2015, he scored his first goal in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
for the club, the opener in a 2–1 win away to
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
. He concluded the season with 41 appearances and 9 goals, making him the club's second-highest goalscorer of the season, after
Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for AS Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He was a technically gifted and creati ...
.
Loan to Inter Milan
On 31 August 2015, Ljajić signed for Inter Milan on a season-long loan, with Inter paying Roma €1.75 million and including an option to make the transfer permanent at the
end of the season for €11 million. On 1 December 2015, Ljajić scored his first Inter goal in a 2–1 away loss to
Napoli
Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
.
Torino
After Inter opted not to exercise their purchase option, Ljajić was sold to
Torino
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
on 18 July 2016 for €8.5 million, plus €500,000 in potential bonuses.
Beşiktaş
On 31 August 2018, Ljajić joined Turkish
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
club
Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...
on a
season-long loan. On 29 May 2019, Beşiktaş signed Ljajić on a permanent deal for a reported fee of €6.5 million.
Fatih Karagümrük
On 28 September 2022, Ljajić joined
Fatih Karagümrük on a one-and-a-half-year contract. He only became available for the team's official matches starting January 2023.
Novi Pazar
On 14 September 2023 Ljajić returned to his
hometown and signed for
Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...
. It is also stated that Ljajić had one condition, and it concerns his salary. Namely, he asked to play for the club for free. Three days later, he scored the winning goal on his debut in a 2–1 win over
Napredak, coming on in the 58th minute as a substitute for
Adetunji Adeshina.
International career

Ljajić represented the Serbia
under-17 and
under-19 teams. On 7 September 2008, he made his international debut for the
under-21 squad in a
European Championship qualification match against
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. On 26 October 2010, it was announced by Serbia coach
Vladimir Petrović that Ljajić would receive his first
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
call-up against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
in a friendly match on 17 November 2010.
Ljajić was removed from his country's squad by head coach Siniša Mihajlović after refusing to sing the Serbian national anthem in a 2–0 friendly loss against
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
on 28 May 2012 for personal reasons. Ljajić previously signed a code of conduct established by Mihajlović that included, among other things, to sing the Serbian national anthem, "
Bože pravde
"" (, ; 'O God of Justice') is the national anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. "Bože pravde" was adopted in 1882 and had been the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a ...
" (''God of Justice'').
Ljajić confirmed Mihajlović's statement, also claiming he loves Serbia and that he has a will to play for its national team, but added he must respect himself, implying he was no longer going to play under Mihajlović.
On 17 February 2014, the new head coach of the Serbia national team,
Ljubinko Drulović, said he would not require players to sing the national anthem but to give their all for their country on the field. Ljajić scored his first goal for the senior side on 7 June 2015 in a 4–1 friendly win against
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
.
In June 2018, Ljajić was included in the 23-man Serbian squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia, where he played in all three group matches as Serbia was eliminated during the group stage.
Basketball career
On 7 November 2024, Ljajić signed a contract with
KK Novi Pazar 1969. The club announced that Ljajić "will be available to coach Hadžerić when he balances his obligations with the football team".
Personal life
Ljajić is an ethnic
Bosniak
The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
and a practising
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ljajić goal.''
Honours
Partizan
*
Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...
:
2008–09
*
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...
:
2008–09
Beşiktaş
*
Turkish Super League
Turkish may refer to:
* Something related to Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire
* The ...
:
2020–21
*
Türkiye Kupası:
2020–21
Individual
*
Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season:
2023–24
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljajic, Adem
1991 births
Living people
Footballers from Novi Pazar
Bosniaks of Serbia
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football forwards
Serbian men's footballers
Serbia men's youth international footballers
Serbia men's under-21 international footballers
Serbia men's international footballers
2018 FIFA World Cup players
FK Partizan players
ACF Fiorentina players
AS Roma players
Inter Milan players
Torino FC players
Beşiktaş J.K. footballers
Fatih Karagümrük S.K. footballers
FK Novi Pazar players
Serbian SuperLiga players
Serie A players
Süper Lig players
Serbian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Serbian basketball players
Serbian Muslims