Danijel Aleksić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Дaниjeл Aлeкcић; born 30 April 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 for Turkish club

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

Early life

Born in

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Aleksić was several months old when his mother fled to Serbia due to the ongoing

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. Aleksić never met his biological father and carries his mother's last name.

Club career

Aleksić started playing football at seven years of age in a local club

Veternik Veternik ( sr-cyr, Ветерник) is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. Over the years, especially in the 1990s, it grew with size and inhabitants thus merging with Futog to the west and Novi Sad to the east. Name The set ...

. By the age of 11, he transferred to

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

where he made it through every age group. Simultaneous to football he attended Jovan Vukanović streamlined technical high school.

Vojvodina

On 5 May 2007, he made his senior debut for Vojvodina under head coach

Milovan Rajevac Milovan Rajevac (Serbian: Милован Рајевац; born 2 January 1954) is a Serbian Manager (association football), football manager and former professional player. Playing career Born in Čajetina, Rajevac played as a Defender (associat ...

in a league match away at

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. Being only 16 years and five days old, Aleksić became the second-youngest player ever to appear in a

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 ...

match (behind

Slavko Perović Slavko Perović ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Славко Перовић; born 2 August 1954) is a Montenegrin politician. He is best known as a co-founder and former leader of Liberal Alliance of Montenegro (LSCG), former party that was fighting for ...

). By the end of the 2006–07 season, he recorded one more league appearance. He scored his first league goal on 2 April 2008, in a 4–1 home win versus

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 ...

. During Vojvodina's 2008–09 season opening league match, a derby versus

, Aleksić scored a 90th-minute goal to put the game beyond reach and ensure a famous 2–0 win for his team. In November 2008, Aleksić started to figure as a transfer target for Serbia's biggest clubs – Red Star and Partizan – however, Vojvodina officials at the time were adamant that they would never sell him to league competitors. In late March 2009, he reportedly also started getting attention form abroad with scouts from

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

coming to watch him play for the Serbian U19 national squad. For his part, in mid May 2009, Aleksić said that he would prefer his first transfer abroad to be to Holland's

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

or Germany's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

Genoa

On 19 January 2010, the highly rated youngster was signed by

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He became the club's second Serbian signing of the season, after Nenad Tomović. Playing under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Aleksić made his Serie A debut against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

on 14 February 2010, coming on as the 88th-minute substitute for

Domenico Criscito Domenico "Mimmo" Criscito (; born 30 December 1986) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. A versatile player, Criscito was effective both offensively and defensively and was also capable of playing as a wing-bac ...

, a game which Genoa lost 3–2. The brief minutes-long runout remained his only league appearance until the end of the 2009–10 Serie A season. The arrival of striker

Luca Toni Luca Toni (; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competition ...

to Genoa in the summer of 2010 meant that Aleksić became surplus to club's current requirements so, on 1 July, the youngster was set to be loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

. However, he refused the transfers and eventually remained at Genoa. But only until the end of 2010 summer transfer window, when he got loaned to 2. Bundesliga club

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following r ...

until the end of the season 2010–11. On 28 June 2011,

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

confirmed Aleksić was on trial.

Kavala

Greek media wrote on 21 August 2011, that Genoa loaned him to

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

, but after a couple of weeks, the Greek team was expelled from the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

and relegated to the Delta Ethniki League, so the loan was canceled and the player returned to Genoa.

Lechia Gdańsk

Aleksić joined

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

during the 2014 summer transfer window on a two-year contract, making his debut in a 3–1 defeat to

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

. After a poor start with the club Aleksić quickly found himself playing for the second team and received criticism for his performances with the first team. After six months with the club Aleksić's performances made him become surplus to requirements and he was sold to St. Gallen in February 2015. He made four first-team appearances at Lechia, failing to score, but had more success with the Lechia II team scoring three goals in six appearances.

International career

Aleksić has the distinction of being the only player to appear for four different age-level national squads during a single calendar year. In 2008, he turned out for Serbian U17 (cadets), U19 (juniors), U21, and

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 ...

teams.

Youth level

Aleksić was the captain of the Serbian U17 national football team. In the 2008 campaign of the qualifying tournament's

elite round In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

held over five days in late March 2008, Aleksić scored five goals in three matches (three from open play and two penalties) as Serbia qualified top of the group for the final tournament. In addition to his five goals, the team scored only one more – scored by

Adem Ljajić Adem Ljajić ( sr-Cyrl, Адем Љајић, ; born 29 September 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Novi Pazar. Ljajić began his career with FK Jošanica, and later Partizan, with whom he made h ...

. Aleksić led his team single-handedly all the way to the final group stage and was the main contender for the U17 golden boot award for most goals. In May 2008 at the

2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 26th UEFA European Under-17 Championship, UEFA's premier association football, football tournament for players under the age of 17. The tournament was held in Turkey from ...

in Turkey he scored a spectacular bicycle kick goal in the first match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as well as adding the second for a 2–0 final score. The next group match pitted Serbia versus the Netherlands, and despite dominating the proceedings the team could not convert due, in no small part, to the heroics of Dutch goalie Jeroen Zoet – in the end, Serbia lost 1–0. The final and deciding group match was against Turkey and Serbia again missed their share of goalscoring chances including Aleksić hitting the woodwork – the match ended 0–0 meaning that Serbia finished third in the group and did not progress to the semifinals.

Senior national team

Aleksić made his senior national team debut as a 17-year-old in December 2008 under head coach

Radomir Antić Radomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Радомир Антић, ; 22 November 1948 – 6 April 2020) was a Serbian professional football manager and player. Following a 17-year playing career as a defender, most of which he spent playing at Partizan, wit ...

in a friendly versus

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, making him one of the youngest debutantes ever. The match was played in

Belek Belek is a neighbourhood in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. As of 2022, it had a population of 9,102. Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganization, it was a town (''Belde''). Belek is one of the centers of Turkey' ...

, Turkey. His next appearance came almost ten years later when he entered late in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

outing against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Saint-Étienne *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: 2012–13 İstanbul Başakşehir *

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 ...

: 2019–20 Individual * UEFA European Under-17 Championship Golden Player Award:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2008: Danijel Aleksić in UEFA.com
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aleksic, Danijel 1991 births Living people Footballers from Pula Serbs of Croatia Serbian people of Croatian descent 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 FK Vojvodina players Genoa CFC players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players AS Saint-Étienne players AC Arlésien players Lechia Gdańsk players Lechia Gdańsk II players FC St. Gallen players Yeni Malatyaspor footballers Al-Ahli Saudi FC players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Serbian SuperLiga players Serie A players 2. Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 3 players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Swiss Super League players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Yugoslav Wars refugees Refugees in Serbia