Dušan Tadić

Dušan Tadić

Dušan Tadić (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Тадић, pronounced [dǔʃan tǎdiːtɕ, tǎːditɕ]; born 20 November 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for and captains Dutch club Ajax and the Serbia national team.

He spent his youth at hometown club AIK Bačka Topola and Vojvodina, eventually playing in the UEFA Europa League with the latter. After two seasons with FC Groningen, he joined FC Twente in 2012, where he earned a move to Southampton of the Premier League. After four years in England, Tadić returned to the Netherlands in 2018, when he joined Ajax.

Tadić has over 60 caps for Serbia, having made his international debut in 2008, and represented the country at the Olympics in that year, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Vojvodina

Dušan Tadić grew up honing his skills within the youth ranks of his hometown's club known as AIK Bačka Topola. Eventually, he signed a professional contract with Vojvodina and played his first competitive matches in the Meridian SuperLiga at the age of 18. While playing for Vojvodina, he gained invaluable experiences playing against great top-flight teams (even against Atlético Madrid) and playing almost four full seasons without any major injuries or incidents. His potential in big European games was displayed in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase when he scored a goal against Austria Wien when he was only 20 years old.

Groningen

Tadić playing for Groningen in 2011

In 2010, Vojvodina sold Dušan Tadić to FC Groningen for the equivalent of €1.23 million. On 8 August 2010, Tadić made his official debut for the club in an Eredivisie match against Ajax, playing a full match and provide assist for Tim Matavž his goal in a 2–2 home draw. On 18 December 2010, Tadić has scored his first goal in Groningen, against Excelsior in 2–2 away draw. On 30 January 2011, he scored twice and provide one assist in a 1–4 away league draw over Heerenveen. Tadić finished the 2010–11 season with 7 goals, and 22 assists in 41 matches. He had the third-highest number of assists in Europe for the 2010–11 season. Only Mesut Özil (26) and Lionel Messi (25) registered more assists.

He played for Groningen from 2010 to 2012, before being transferred to FC Twente.

Twente

On 10 April 2012, it was announced that Tadić had signed for FC Twente in a €7.7 million move from FC Groningen. In his debut game on 12 August 2012, he scored two goals against his former club. He finished his debut season as the team's second-highest scorer with 16 goals in all competitions, two less than Nacer Chadli. In the following season, Tadić again scored 16 goals across all competitions, being the team's top scorer.

Southampton

Tadić scoring a penalty, his first goal for Southampton, as they defeated Arsenal in 2014

Tadić became the first signing under new Southampton manager Ronald Koeman on 8 July 2014, signing on a four-year deal. He joined for an undisclosed fee, thought to be £10.9 million. He made his competitive debut on 17 August in their first game of the Premier League season, playing 74 minutes of a 2–1 defeat at Liverpool before being substituted for fellow debutant Shane Long. Tadić assisted Southampton's goal through a one-two with goalscorer Nathaniel Clyne.

He scored his first Southampton goal on 23 September with a penalty against Arsenal in a 2–1 League Cup victory at Emirates Stadium. His first league goal for the club came in an 8–0 trouncing of Sunderland on 18 October, in which he assisted four others, equalling the Premier League record for the most assists in a single match.

On 13 December, Tadić had a penalty saved by Tom Heaton as Southampton went on to lose 1–0 away to Burnley. He scored in a 2–0 win over Arsenal on 1 January 2015, and ten days later scored the only goal as Southampton defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford and rose into the third position at their expense. This marked Southampton's first league victory at Old Trafford since 1988.

Tadić scored twice in a 3–0 win against Norwich City on 30 August 2015 for the Saints' first league win of the season.

He scored another brace in a 4–2 win over relegated Aston Villa on 23 April 2016. In the next game, he provided three assists in a 4–2 win over Manchester City, becoming only the fourth player to achieve three or more assists in more than one Premier League game.

Ajax

Tadić playing for Ajax in 2019

Tadić signed for Dutch club Ajax in June 2018. Ajax paid a transfer sum of €11.4 million, which could reach €13.7 million based on variables.

On 5 March 2019, Tadić’s goal, two assists and man-of-the-match performance helped knock Real Madrid out of the last 16 of the Champions League, as Ajax unexpectedly won 4–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The Spanish side had won the previous three Champions League titles and had beaten Ajax 2–1 in the first leg in Amsterdam. Tadić's performance in the game resulted in him becoming the ninth player ever to receive a 10/10 rating from the French football newspaper, L'Equipe. The signing of Tadić was seen by some pundits as the single biggest reason for Ajax’s improvement in the 2018–19 season.

On 23 April, Ajax defeated Vitesse in an Eredivisie match by a score of 4–2; the four goals scored by Ajax secured their position as the first Dutch team in history to score 160 goals across all competitions in a single season. Through 51 games played at the time, Tadić had directly contributed to 53 of the club's goals in all competitions: 34 goals and 19 assists.

Tadić was one of four Ajax players nominated for the 2019 Ballon d'Or, and at the ceremony on 2 December 2019, it was announced that he finished in 20th place.

International career

Tadić was a regular member of Serbia's under-19 and under-21 teams, taking part at both the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He also represented Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, appearing in all three group stage matches.

Tadić was first named in the Serbia national squad in 2008, aged 20. It was not until 2011 that he became a regular fixture in both the squad and the team, and was an integral part of the national side during Serbia's unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Tadić scored his first senior goal for his country in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification game at home to Wales on 12 September 2012 in a 6–1 victory, coming on the occasion of his eighth full cap.

Tadić was one of Serbia's most influential players during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications, scoring four goals and helping them win their group. In June 2018 he was selected in the 23-man squad for the final tournament, playing all three group stage matches.