Nikola Lazetić (; born 9 February 1978) is a Serbian retired

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 played as a winger.

Club career

Born in

Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр� ...

, Lazetić started out at his hometown club Trepča. He was later discovered by

Tomislav Milićević Tomislav Milićević (; 29 September 1940 – 24 October 2024) was a Yugoslav and Serbian Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Playing career Milićević started out at FK Napredak Kruševa ...

who brought him to

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 ...

. In December 1995, Lazetić made his league debut for the club in a 5–1 home win over Proleter Zrenjanin. He made three more appearances in the second half of the 1995–96 season. In the summer of 1996, Lazetić was loaned to Budućnost Valjevo, before returning to Red Star in the second part of the 1996–97 season. He also played on dual registration for Hajduk Beograd during the spring of 1997. In the summer of 1998, Lazetić signed a contract with

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 ...

, helping them reach the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup final. He subsequently moved to Obilić in a controversial transfer during the winter of 1999, spending the next year and a half at the club. After his retirement, he confirmed that he had been brought to Obilić against his will. In May 2000, Lazetić was sold to Turkish club Fenerbahçe for an undisclosed fee. He helped them win the league in his debut season, contributing with five goals in 30 appearances. In his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

, Lazetić appeared in 16 league games and scored once, as the team finished runners-up to

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. In June 2002, Lazetić moved to Italy and joined

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 ...

newcomers

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

. He was loaned to Chievo three months later, without making his debut for Como. In January 2003, Lazetić's rights were transferred to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

until the end of the season. In July 2003, Lazetić joined fellow Serie A club

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

on a season-long loan from Como. He was subsequently sold 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 ...

side

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 ...

, but remained on loan at Siena. In August 2005, Lazetić signed a two-year contract with Serie A club

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

. He later moved to Serie B side

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in January 2006, helping them win promotion to the top flight. Afterwards, Lazetić spent two more seasons at the club. In August 2008, Lazetić returned to Serbia and joined his parent club

, signing a two-year contract. He captained the side that won the 2009–10 Serbian Cup. In June 2010, Lazetić left the club after failing to agree to a contract extension. In August 2010, Lazetić signed a one-year deal with his former club

. He helped the team reach the

2010–11 Serbian Cup The 2010–11 Serbian Cup season was the fifth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 1 September 2010 and concluded with the final on 11 May 2011. FK Partizan won the title 2–1 over FK Vojvodina in cont ...

final, before leaving at the end of his contract.

International career

At international level, Lazetić made his debut for

Serbia and Montenegro 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 ...

(formerly known as FR Yugoslavia) in a September 1998

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

away 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 ...

, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for

Predrag Mijatović Predrag Mijatović ( sr-cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin Association football, football administrator and former player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. At club level, Mijato ...

, and earned a total of 25 caps, scoring 1 goal. His final international was an April 2003 friendly away against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Post-playing career

In June 2019, Lazetić was appointed as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

Personal life

Lazetić is the older brother of fellow former footballer

Žarko Lazetić Žarko Lazetić (; born 22 February 1982) is a Serbian football manager and former player who is currently manager of Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Playing career Throughout his career, Lazetić played as a forward. In Decemb ...

. He appeared as the main protagonist in popular Serbian folk singer Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović's video 'Red' in which he portrayed a mobster.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...

: 1996–97 *

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. ...

: 2009–10 Fenerbahçe *

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 ...

: 2000–01 Individual * Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2009–10

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazetic, Nikola 1978 births Living people Footballers from Mitrovica, Kosovo Kosovo Serbs Men's association football wingers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Serbian men's footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Budućnost Valjevo players FK Hajduk Beograd players FK Milicionar players FK Železnik players FK Vojvodina players FK Obilić players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers AC ChievoVerona players Como 1907 players SS Lazio players Genoa CFC players Siena FC SSD players US Livorno 1915 players Torino FC players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players Süper Lig players Serie A players Serie B players Serbian SuperLiga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy