Mateja Milovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Матеја Миловановић; born 18 April 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

club Partizan. Born in the Netherlands, he is a youth international for the Serbia U19s.

Personal life

Milovanović was born in Vlaardingen in 2004. His father Viktor Milovanović was playing for

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

at the time. Mateja has captained the Netherlands at youth level but has eligibility 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 ...

through his family.

Club career

Milovanović signed a first professional contract with Ajax in 2021 to take him through to 2024. He had been with Ajax youth teams since 2018 when he switched from Sparta Rotterdam. He made his professional debut in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

in a 1–0 defeat against

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...

on 12 August 2022. On 11 July 2024, Milovanović joined

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

on a two-year deal.

International career

Having previously been called up for the under-15 and under-18 teams of the Netherlands, Milovanović made his debut for the Serbia under-19 team under manager Dejan Branković on 7 June 2021, in a friendly fixture against Romania under-19 which resulted in a 1–0 victory at home.

Career statistics

Style of play

According to

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

both

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

and

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (), commonly known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

were attracted to Milovanović as he was left footed, tall and strong but with good technique, they felt his style of play was comparable to

Matthijs de Ligt Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands ...

References

External links

*
Netherlands U18 stats
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Milovanović, Mateja 2004 births Living people Footballers from Vlaardingen Dutch people of Serbian descent Men's association football central defenders Dutch men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Jong Ajax players SC Heerenveen players Eredivisie players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen