Marko Grujić ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Грујић, ; born 13 April 1996) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

and the Serbia national team. A native of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Grujić started his career with his hometown 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 ...

, progressing through their

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

to the first team squad. He made his professional debut in 2013, and won the SuperLiga title in his final season with Red Star before completing a £5.1 million move to Liverpool. After five years with the Premier League club, he moved to Portuguese club Porto for just over £10 million in 2021. Grujić is a Serbian international, and represented Serbia at every youth level from under-16 upwards before making his full international debut in May 2016. He was part of the Serbian side which won the 2015 U-20 World Cup.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Grujić was born in

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

(now

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 ...

) and is a product of

, where he went through the youth program, passed all categories and was the captain of his generation. He made his professional debut for Red Star on 26 May 2013, 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 versus

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 ...

. On 17 May 2015, Grujić signed a three-year contract with Red Star to last until 2018. Grujić scored his first senior goal on 26 September 2015 against

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 a 2–0 victory; he also assisted Aleksandar Katai for the second goal. Grujić was a part of an unprecedented run of Red Star victories, as the club set a new record for the number of consecutive victories (19), ending the first half of the season without defeat.

Liverpool

Throughout autumn, Grujić was scouted by a number of high-profile European teams, including

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

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 ...

, Chelsea, and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Liverpool manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

called Grujić personally to convince him to switch to

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

, but initially Grujić's father was against his son moving to Liverpool. Klopp's assistant, Željko Buvač, flew to Belgrade to speak with Grujić and on 6 January 2016, it was confirmed that Grujić completed his move to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

, signing a five-year deal for a reported fee of £5.1 million. Upon joining, Grujić hailed Klopp for convincing him to join and told the press, "I would choose Liverpool over

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

." He was immediately loaned back to Red Star until the end of the season for a fee of £740,000, and won the SuperLiga with Red Star while on loan. Grujić finished the season with 29 appearances, 6 goals, 7 assists and was voted into the SuperLiga Team of the Year for his contribution to Red Star's unbeaten season. On 20 August 2016, Grujić made his

debut for

in a 2–0 loss against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, coming on in the place of Adam Lallana in the 78th minute.

Loan to Cardiff City

On 17 January 2018, Grujić joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. He made his debut for the club three days later, playing in a 0–0 draw with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. Grujić's first goal for Cardiff came in a 2–1 home victory over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

on 6 March 2018, scoring from range just after the start of the second half.

Loan to Hertha BSC

On 19 August 2018, Grujić joined

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 ...

club

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 a one-year loan. He scored his first goal for the club on 8 December, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. Hertha coach Pal Dardai hailed Grujić as "by far the best midfielder at Hertha Berlin in 20 years". On 1 July 2019, his loan deal was extended for a second season, with a reported loan fee of £2 million.

Return to Liverpool

On 25 September 2020, Grujić started in the EFL Cup tie against Lincoln winning 7–2 and scored a goal.

Porto

On 6 October 2020, Grujić joined Portuguese club

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. On 20 July 2021, Porto made his deal permanent for a transfer worth £10,5 million and a 10% sell-on clause.

International career

Grujić represented Serbia at all youth levels from under-16 to under-21, and was a member of the Serbia squad that won the

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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In May 2016, Grujić made his full international debut for the Serbia national team after coming on in place of

Nemanja Matić Nemanja Matić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Матић, ; born 1 August 1988) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon. Matić began his senior career at ...

in a 2–1 win against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. 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 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 rights in l ...

, but he failed to make any appearances in the competition. 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

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. Serbia finished fourth in the group.

Style of play

Standing at 6-foot-3-inches (1.91 m), Grujić has been described as "tall, rangy, comfortable on the ball and with a good range of passing" and dubbed the "new Matić" because of his likeness in both appearance and position to fellow Serbian defensive midfielder

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

: 2015–16 Porto *

: 2021–22 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2022–23 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Serbia U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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 ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

Marko Grujić
at the FC Porto website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grujic, Marko 1996 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Men's association football midfielders Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Premier League players English Football League players Bundesliga players Primeira Liga players Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Kolubara players Liverpool F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Hertha BSC players FC Porto players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players