Nikola Mitrović (; born 2 January 1987) 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

defensive midfielder 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. ...

Club career

Early years

In 1997, aged 10, Mitrović joined the youth system of his hometown club Napredak Kruševac. He was promoted to the senior squad in 2004. Over the next three seasons, Mitrović amassed over 100 competitive appearances for the side, as they were promoted to the top flight in 2007.

Partizan

On 23 July 2007, Mitrović agreed to a three-year contract with Partizan. He served mainly as a backup to Brazilian defensive midfielder Juca throughout the season, making 18 appearances ( league and

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

), as the club won the double. Due to strong competition in his position, Mitrović was loaned to his parent club Napredak Kruševac in the 2008 summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. He was transferred to Russian club Volga Nizhny Novgorod six months later, spending the entire year there, before again returning to Napredak Kruševac in early 2010.

Újpest and Videoton

In the summer of 2010, Mitrović moved abroad for the second time and joined Hungarian club

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

. He missed just one out of 30 league games, managing to score once in a 6–0 victory over Újpest's fierce rivals

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

. On 28 June 2011, Mitrović joined Hungarian champions Videoton, signing a two-year contract. He was a regular in his debut season at the club, helping them win the League Cup. In the next 2012–13 campaign, Mitrović collected 50 appearances and netted nine goals in all competitions, both career-highs.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 4 August 2013, Mitrović moved to Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv on a one-year deal with an extension option. He was signed by his former Videoton manager Paulo Sousa who joined the club earlier that summer. After defending

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

title with Maccabi in his debut season, Mitrović helped the side win the domestic treble in the following 2014–15 campaign. He subsequently made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut in 2015–16, collecting four appearances in the group stage under his countryman Slaviša Jokanović. On 10 January 2016, it was announced that Mitrović would be leaving the club upon his request.

Later years

Just a few days following his departure from Maccabi, Mitrović joined

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club Shanghai Shenxin. He stayed in Asia for only six months, before returning to Israel and signing for Bnei Yehuda in late August 2016. In January of the following year, Mitrović moved to Cypriot club Anorthosis. In September 2017, Mitrović returned to his homeland and joined his parent club Napredak Kruševac on a free transfer. He scored the winning goal in a 1–0 home league win over

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 ...

on 1 October 2017, chipping the ball from outside the box over

Milan Borjan Milan Borjan ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Борјан; born 23 October 1987) is a professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Riyadh SC, Al-Riyadh. Born in ...

in the sixth minute of injury time. In January 2018, Mitrović moved to Poland and joined

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

for six months. In August 2018, Mitrović signed a one-year contract with Azerbaijani club

Keşlə Keşlə (; Кешлә, کشله; also Keshly, Keshlya, Kəşlə, Keşlä, Kešlæ, Kishly, Kishlya, Kishty, Kişli and Kitly) is a settlement and municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 25,626. The Keshla area is becoming main ...

. In July 2019, Mitrović returned to Hungary after six years and signed with

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; ; ; ) is the administrative center of Zala County, Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders, and west-southwest of Budapest by road. Hi ...

International career

In April 2010, Mitrović made his full international debut 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 ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Ljubomir Fejsa Ljubomir Fejsa ( sr-Cyrl, Љубомир Фејса, ; born 14 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who last played for Partizan as a defensive midfielder. He competed for Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. From 2008–09 to 20 ...

in a friendly against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, an eventual 3–0 success.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

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. ...

: 2007–08 Videoton * Ligakupa: 2011–12 * Szuperkupa: 2011, 2012 Maccabi Tel Aviv *

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

: 2014–15 *

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

: 2014–15 Bnei Yehuda * Israel State Cup: 2016–17 Újpest *

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

: 2020–21

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrovic, Nikola 1987 births Living people Footballers from Kruševac Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers FK Napredak Kruševac players FK Partizan players FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod players Újpest FC players Fehérvár FC players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Shanghai Shenxin F.C. players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Wisła Kraków players Shamakhi FK players Zalaegerszegi TE players Budapest Honvéd FC players Budapesti VSC footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Serbian First League players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players Russian First League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Nemzeti Bajnokság II players Israeli Premier League players China League One players Cypriot First Division players Ekstraklasa players Azerbaijan Premier League players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Poland