Mijat Gaćinović (, ; born 8 February 1995) 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

Greek Super League 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 ...

club AEK Athens and the Serbia national team.

Club career

Vojvodina

Gaćinović was born in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

while his father Vladimir played for FK Bečej. His family is from Trebinje in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, where Gaćinović returned when his father finished his career. He started to play football at Leotar, before joining the youth academy of

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 ...

. He made his first team debut under manager Nebojša Vignjević on 19 March 2013, coming off the bench as a substitute for Miroslav Vulićević in a 3–0 home win over Donji Srem. On 18 May 2013, Gaćinović scored his first senior goal in a 3–2 home league victory over Radnički Niš. After already establishing his place in the starting lineup, Gaćinović helped Vojvodina win the 2013–14 Serbian Cup in the club's centennial year. He was named the team's captain in early 2015, eventually becoming their top league scorer in the 2014–15 season, netting 11 goals.

Eintracht Frankfurt

In the summer of 2015, Gaćinović moved to Germany and signed with

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 ...

. He made his official debut for the club on 28 November 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 away league loss against Mainz 05. On 19 May 2016, Gaćinović scored the equalizer in the first leg of the 2015–16 Bundesliga relegation playoffs against

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

, before assisting the only goal in the return leg away to keep his club in the top flight.

TSG Hoffenheim

On 4 August 2020, Gaćinović signed for

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

as part of a swap deal, with

Steven Zuber Steven Zuber (born 17 August 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger for Swiss Super League club Zürich and for the Switzerland national team. He has also been a youth international for Switzerland. Early life Steven Zu ...

going to Frankfurt. He put pen to paper on a 4-year contract.

Loan to Panathinaikos

On 31 January 2022, in the last day of winter transfer window, Panathinaikos completed the loan signing of Gaćinović, until the summer of 2022.

AEK Athens

On 28 June 2022, Gaćinović signed a 4-year contract with AEK Athens. The Greek club paid an estimated fee of €1,000,000, while TSG Hoffenheim will keep a resale rate of 30%. In the first half of the 2022–23 season, Gaćinović emerged as a leading figure in

Matías Almeyda Matías Jesús Almeyda (; born 21 December 1973) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He is the current head coach of La Liga club Sevilla. Nicknamed ''El Pelado'' ("bald one") despite his traditionally long hair, he ...

's plans, scoring 4 goals and assisting another four. Following his return in action after the World Cup break and an injury, serbian sources confirmed that

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

expressed interest in his services with an initial 6-month loan and an option to buy for the summer, with AEK Athens denying any negotiation, unless potential offers exceed the sum of €8,000,000. He scored on the last game of the season against

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

in a 4–0 home victory which helped AEK win the title. On 21 September 2023, Gaćinović scored with a low volley after a cross from Ehsan Hajsafi helping to a triumphant 3–2 away win against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

for the first game of the Europa League group stage. This was AEK Athens' first win on English soil since 1978.

International career

Gaćinović played for

at the Under-17 level, before eventually choosing to represent

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 ...

at the under-19 level. He was a member of the team that won the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

. Furthermore, Gaćinović scored an equalizer against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the 85th minute of the semi-final. He also appeared at the

2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship since its reclassification from an under-18 event in 2002, and the 63rd since the tournament was created in 1948. Hungary was chosen to ho ...

. Subsequently, Gaćinović represented

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 ...

at 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 ...

, winning the gold medal. He debuted for the senior national team on 24 March 2017 against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, replacing Filip Kostić in the 81st minute, and scored the third goal for Serbia in the 86th minute. In May 2018 he was named in Serbia’s preliminary 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, but he wasn't selected for the final squad. Gaćinović was selected in Serbia's squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. He played in a group stage match against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Serbia finished fourth in the group.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played 2 September 2017''

Honours

Vojvodina *

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. ...

: 2013–14 Eintracht Frankfurt *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2017–18 Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2021–22 AEK Athens *

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 ...

: 2022–23 *

: 2022–23 Serbia * UEFA Under-19 Championship:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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 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 ...

Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2022–23 ;Orders * Medal of Merit (

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

)

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gacinovic, Mijat 1995 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbia men's international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's youth international footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Bundesliga players Super League Greece players FK Vojvodina players Eintracht Frankfurt players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Panathinaikos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Footballers from Novi Sad Footballers from Trebinje UEFA Euro 2024 players