Darko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Дарко Лазовић, ; born 15 September 1990) 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 a

left winger 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. ...

. At the age of 21, Lazović was recognized as the best young player of 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 ...

in 2011.

Club career

Borac Čačak

From the age of six, Lazović began to train in the youth academy of

FK Borac Čačak Fudbalski klub Borac 1926 (), commonly known as Borac Čačak, is a professional football club based in Čačak, Serbia. The home ground is Čačak Stadium, which has seating capacity of 8,000. As of 2024–25 season, the club competes in secon ...

. By the time he played for the junior team, he was attracting the attention of scouts from outside of

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population ...

. On 2 March 2008, he made his senior debut for Borac 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 against

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 scored his first competitive goal for Borac Čačak on 22 March 2008, in a

match against

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 ...

. In February 2009, Lazović trained with the first-team of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for a couple of days, and by 10 February, Borac coach Ljubiša Dmitrović, told the press "For all I know, Lazović has been transferred to Tottenham". However, a contract was never signed, and domestic club

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 ...

took the initiative.

Red Star Belgrade

On 22 June 2009, at the age of 18, Lazović completed a transfer from Borac to Red Star, whose coach at the time was

Vladimir Petrović Vladimir Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Владимир Петровић, ; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon (), after the French for ''pigeon''. Club career Dur ...

. He signed a four-year contract with Red Star. He missed the start of the season due to injury, but made his debut on 12 September 2009 against

Metalac Gornji Milanovac FK Metalac Gornji Milanovac () is a professional football club based in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League West, the third tier of the national league system. History The club was founded as FK Radnik on 12 June 1961. Th ...

. He came off the bench in the 65th minute to replace Nikola Vasiljević. He scored his first goal for Red Star on 23 September 2009, in the sixteenth

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. ...

match against

Mladost Apatin OFK Mladost APA () is a football club based in Apatin, Vojvodina, Serbia. They compete in the Vojvodina League North, the fourth tier of the national league system. History The original club was founded in 1928 as SK Tri zvezde. They played qua ...

. Red Star went on to win 6–1 and Lazović scored a brace. Otherwise, Lazović saw little playing time until the arrival of coach

Robert Prosinečki Robert Prosinečki (; born 12 January 1969) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Born in West Germany, he internationally represented Yugoslavia and later Croatia. He is the current manager of the Mont ...

, after which he was named as best young player in the

. He played an important role in Red Star's 2011–12 UEFA Europa League qualifying campaign, as he started most of the games and contributed to a deep run into the qualification playoff, where Red Star lost to

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is ...

. In the semi-final of the

2011–12 Serbian Cup The 2011–12 Serbian Cup season was the sixth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 31 August 2011 and concluded with the final on May 16, 2012. The winner of the competition qualified for the second qua ...

, On 11 April 2012, he scored a goal against historic rival Partizan, in a game which Red Star won 2–0. That year,

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. ...

would go on to win the 2012 Serbian Cup Final. On 4 July 2012, Lazović signed a three-year contract extension, ending speculation about a possible transfer after Red Bull Salzburg made an offer for him. Although Red Star didn't win the league that season, it was the second consecutive season in which Red Star made a play-off run in the UEFA Europa League qualifying phase. During the 2011-12 Europa League campaign, Lazović contributed with assists against Naftan Novopolotsk and played full matches against Omonia and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Although a period of instability followed at Red Star, Lazović remained in the starting eleven even after a quick succession of coaches:

, Aleksandar Janković, and

Ricardo Sá Pinto Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto (born 10 October 1972) is a Portuguese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward, currently a Manager (association football), manager. H ...

. However, on 18 May 2013, in a match against Partizan, he suffered a season-ending knee injury, eight minutes into the game. While Lazović was injured,

voluntarily resigned from Red Star, and new coach

Slaviša Stojanovič Slaviša Stojanović (born 6 December 1969) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Koper. As manager, Stojanović has won the Slovenian PrvaLiga twice, with Domžale, and the Serbian SuperLiga once, ...

was enthusiastic about giving Lazović some playing time as soon as his injury allowed. On 22 February 2014, Lazović played his first competitive match after eight months of injury and made an assist against Javor. On 12 April 2014, Lazović scored 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 Wick ...

against Čukarički. first in career. Lazović won his first championship with Red Star at the end of the season, after a win against OFK Beograd in a front of 55,000 fans. After the departure of

Nenad Milijaš Nenad Milijaš ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Милијаш, ; born 30 April 1983) is a retired Serbian footballer. He represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Milijaš rose to prominence in his homeland with his first club FK Zemun before moving ...

and suspension of Nikola Mijailović during season, Lazović was appointed as new captain of

. On 14 January 2015, it was announced that at the end of the season, after six years in

, as a free player, Lazović would sign A multiyear contract with

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

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 ...

. In his last season with Red Star, he scored 10 goals and was the team's top scorer. His last game with Red Star was on 24 May 2015, in a win against Mladost Lučani.

Genoa

In summer 2015, Lazović signed with

team

. In a friendly match against

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

on 1 August 2015, Lazović scored his first goal for Genoa in their 0–2 away win. On 8 November 2015, Lazović produced two assists in a 2–2 tie with

Frosinone Calcio Frosinone Calcio () is a professional football club based in Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. The club was founded on 5 March 1906 under the name Unione Sportiva Frusinate, but conventionally the year 1928 is indicated as the beginning of competitive a ...

, and was subsequently named in the

"Team of the Week". On 16 December 2016, Lazović scored his first goal for Genoa against

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 ...

, in a match that was only 62 minutes long as it was meant as a continuation of an unfinished match from 11 September which had been abandoned due to an unusual

hailstorm Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

. His contract expired and he left the club on 30 June 2019.

Hellas Verona

On 6 August 2019, Lazović signed a three-year contract with

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

International career

After being called up by 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 ...

, Lazović debuted for

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

on 14 December 2008, in a friendly match against

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 ...

. Four years later, he came in as a substitute in the 76th minute against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during a friendly match on 31 May 2012. On 5 June 2012, during his third game for the senior team, Lazović scored an impressive goal against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

which was disallowed by the referee. In November 2022, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. He played in a group stage match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Serbia finished fourth in the group.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

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

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

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 ...

: 2013–14 *

: 2009–10, 2011–12 Individual *

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 Football in Serbia, Serbian football, the Serbian SuperLiga, SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. S ...

: 2011–12, 2013–14

References

External links

*
Darko Lazović
at Utakmica.rs {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazovic, Darko 1990 births Living people Footballers from Čačak Serbian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Serbia men's international footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers FK Borac Čačak players Red Star Belgrade footballers Genoa CFC players Hellas Verona FC players Serbian SuperLiga players Serie A players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 2022 FIFA World Cup players