Lazar Samardžić

Lazar Samardžić (Serbian Cyrillic: Лазар Самарџић, pronounced [lâzaːr sǎmaːrdʒitɕ]; born 24 February 2002) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Udinese.[1][2] Although a midfielder, he can also play as a left winger.

Lazar Samardžić
Personal information
Full name Lazar Samardžić
Date of birth (2002-02-24) 24 February 2002
Place of birth Berlin, Germany
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Udinese
Number 24
Youth career
FK Hercegovac
Blau-Weiß Spandau
Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln
0000–2009 Grün-Weiss Neukölln
2009–2020 Hertha BSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Hertha BSC II 5 (1)
2020 Hertha BSC 3 (0)
2020–2021 RB Leipzig 7 (0)
2021– Udinese 16 (2)
National team‡
2017–2018 Germany U16 7 (2)
2019 Germany U17 5 (1)
2019– Germany U19 6 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:37, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 May 2020

Club career

Youth

Samardžić played for BSV Grün-Weiss Neukölln 1950 e.V. from 2008 to 2009[3] and joined Hertha BSC from 9 October 2009.[2][4] Samardžić played for the U17 and U19 teams of Hertha BSC in the Under 17 and Under 19 Bundesliga, scoring 16 and 14 goals respectively.[5] Samardžić won the bronze award of the Fritz Walter Medal in the U17 group.[6][7]

First team

Samardžić was announced to have signed a professional contract, and first appeared as an unused substitute for the professional team in a 3–3 away draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf on 28 February 2020.[8][9]

Samardžić made his debut for Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga on 22 May 2020, coming on as a substitute for Per Ciljan Skjelbred in the 81st minute of the Berlin derby against Union Berlin, which finished as a 4–0 win.[10] Samardzic is considered one of Germany's most talented prospects and he had attracted serious interest from elite clubs around the world, such as Chelsea, Barcelona and Juventus.[11][12]

RB Leipzig

On 8 September 2020, Samardžić joined fellow Bundesliga side RB Leipzig on a five-year deal.[13] He made his RB Leipzig debut on 3 October, coming off the bench in a 4-0 win against FC Schalke 04.

Udinese

Ahead of the 2021–22 season, 19-year-old Samardžić moved to Italian Serie A club Udinese. He signed a five-year contract.[14]

International career

Samardžić played for Berlin at the Under-15 level and Germany at the Under-17 and Under-19 levels. He first appeared internationally and played two matches in the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification against Belarus and Slovenia.[5][15][16] He then played in all three matches of the group stage of the tournament, scoring once, but the team failed to progress to the knockout stage. For the U-19 level, he played in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, scoring twice.[5]

Personal life

Samardžić was born in Berlin, and is of Bosnian Serb descent.[1] His father hails from Živinice.[17]

References
  1. Lazar Samardžić at WorldFootball.net
  2. "Lazar Samardžić | Playerprofile | Bundesliga". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. "U 17: Einst Amateurverein, mittlerweile Nationalspieler". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. "Hertha BSC - HerthaBSC.de". www.herthabsc.de (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. "Germany - L. Samardžić - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. Quinn, Phillip (13 August 2019). "Fritz Walter Medals awarded to Germany's top youth players". Bavarian Football Works. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. "Gold Fritz Walter medals for Kühn, Bühl and Adeyemi". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. "A comeback on the Rhein - Teams - HerthaBSC.de". www.herthabsc.de (in German). Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. "Wird dieses Hertha-Talent der neue Max Kruse? – Meldung". tekk.tv. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. "Germany » Bundesliga 2019/2020 » 27. Round » Hertha BSC – 1. FC Union Berlin 4:0". WorldFootball.net. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  11. "Lazar Samardzic: Barcelona and Juventus chasing Germany's latest wonderkid | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  12. "Bild: Chelsea among top clubs targeting Hertha Berlin prospect Lazar Samardžić". Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. "RB Leipzig sign Lazar Samardzic from Hertha Berlin". Bundesliga. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  14. "Lazar Samardžić è bianconero < Squadra < News < Udinese". udinese.it (in Italian). 5 August 2021.
  15. UEFA.com. "Germany-Belarus | Under-17". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  16. UEFA.com. "Slovenia-Germany | Under-17". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  17. Škorić, E. (18 July 2020). "Uspostavljeni kontakti: Juventus dovodi 18-godišnje čudo čiji je otac rođen u selu kod Živinica". SportSport.ba (in Croatian).
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