Nikola Sarić (born 6 January 1991) is a Danish former 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 played as a forward.

Club career

Fanø Boldklub

Sarić joined his first club Fanø Boldklub aged six while still in a Danish refugee camp, having fled

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 ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

Herfølge

Sarić joined professional club

Herfølge Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of central Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Herfølge Church Herføl ...

aged 13. He spent five seasons in total with the Danish outfit, mostly in their youth system, managing to record three first team appearances in what would turn out to be his last season at the club. In 2007, Sarić was voted by the Danish Football Association to be their 2007 U-17 Player of the Year. At the age of just 14, Sarić was invited to trials at both

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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 ...

. Both of his trials were successful, and he was offered a three-year contract at

, however he and his father rejected this opportunity as it was deemed to be "too early" in his career. During the Summer of 2008 at only 17 years of age he was sold to

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 ...

, despite reported interest from the likes of Werder Bremen, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Ajax, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus.

Liverpool

Sarić's signing for Liverpool prompted substantial news coverage.

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

all attempted to sign him, resulting in a bidding war. It was reported they settled on a 3-year £500,000 contract. ''

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Reach plc, Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, wi ...

'' called him "one of Europe's most promising young strikers" and he was compared, in style, to

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and Volley (association footba ...

However, his potential was to be unfulfilled as Sarić suffered numerous injuries during his time at the club's reserves, including two broken legs and a knee problem which stunted his development. In 2011, he was released after the expiry of his contract.

Hajduk Split

After training with the club for two weeks, he signed a contract with

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

on 2 June 2011. He was released by mutual consent in 2012 after financial trouble meant the club failed to pay the player his wages.

HB Køge

On 23 March 2012 he signed a contract with the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

HB Køge HB Køge () is a professional Danish football club based primarily in the town of Herfølge, and secondly in the town of Køge, both in the Køge Municipality, part of 'Region of Zealand', in the eastern part of Zealand, south of Copenhagen. It ...

. Injury problems continued to plague his career, however, and he managed to play only 16 games in 1 year for

in all competitions. It was announced on 5 December 2013 that Sarić would leave the club at the expiry of his contract at the end of the year.

B 1908

On 17 February 2014, it was announced that Saric would train at former club B 1908 Amager to work on his fitness and return to the professional game. On 1 April 2014, it was announced that Saric would join the club permanently.

Kastrup

In 2016 he signed for Kastrup Boldklub in the

Denmark Series The Denmark Series () is the fifth tier in the Danish football league system. Teams are divided into four groups of ten. The top team in each following promotion group is promoted to the Danish 3rd Division. The bottom three teams in each group ...

AB Tårnby

In July 2021, Sarić joined

club

AB Tårnby Amager Boldklub Tårnby (; commonly known as AB Tårnby) is an association football club based in the town of Tårnby, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark, that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. ...

. He made his competitive debut in the first round of the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

on 4 August against former club and rivals Tårnby FF. His team were knocked out after a penalty shootout. His league debut came three days later – also against Tårnby FF – where he was in the starting lineup of a 5–3 win. Sarić declared his retirement from football in late 2022, attributing it to a lack of motivation, his commitment to his civil job, and persistent injuries as the primary reasons for stepping away from the sport.

International career

He has represented

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

at youth level in all categories. According to Bosnian media Sarić is, as of March 2010, still undecided which country he will represent, should he come into consideration at senior international level,

. On 27 July, Sarić declined a call-up from Croatia U21.

Personal life

Sarić was born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, present day

to a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...

father and a

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...

mother. He grew up as a refugee in

after his family fled the country during the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. He dated Serbian professional tennis player

Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...

in 2014.

References

External links

*
Nikola Saric portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saric, Nikola 1991 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Serbian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Croatian descent Yugoslav Wars refugees Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Denmark Danish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Danish people of Croatian descent Danish people of Serbian descent Men's association football forwards Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Danish men's footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Herfølge Boldklub players Liverpool F.C. players HNK Hajduk Split players HB Køge players Boldklubben 1908 players Tårnby FF players AB Tårnby players Danish 1st Division players Croatian Football League players Danish Superliga players Danish 2nd Division players Denmark Series players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Danish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia 21st-century Danish sportsmen 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen