Oliver Sarkic

Oliver Sarkic
Personal information
Full name Oliver Sarkic[1]
Date of birth (1997-07-23) 23 July 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Grimsby, England[2]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward / Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Budućnost
Number 13
Youth career
2006–2014 Anderlecht
2014–2015 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Benfica B 44 (5)
2017 → Fafe (loan) 18 (2)
2017 → Leeds United (loan) 0 (0)
2018–2019 Leeds United 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Barakaldo (loan) 12 (1)
2019–2020 Burton Albion 28 (3)
2020–2022 Blackpool 5 (0)
2021 → Mansfield Town (loan) 4 (0)
2022 Pakhtakor Tashkent 9 (3)
2023–2024 Dečić 51 (13)
2024– Budućnost 11 (1)
International career‡
2013 Montenegro U17 3 (0)
2014–2016 Montenegro U19 9 (4)
2016–2017 Montenegro U21 10 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 September 2017

Oliver Sarkic (Montenegrin: Оливер Шаркић, romanized: Oliver Šarkić; born 23 July 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Budućnost. Born in England, he represented Montenegro at youth level. He came through the academies of Anderlecht and Benfica. He has also played for Fafe, Leeds United, Barakaldo, Burton Albion, Mansfield Town, Blackpool and Pakhtakor Tashkent.

Club career

Early career

On 1 September 2014, Sarkic joined Portuguese champions Benfica from Belgian club Anderlecht, being assigned to their youth team.[3] He debuted professionally for Benfica B in a 3–2 win over Porto B in Segunda Liga, on 11 January 2015.[4] On 14 February 2015, he scored twice in a 4–1 home win against Oliveirense.[5]

In January 2017, Sarkic joined AD Fafe on loan until the end of the season, during his loan stint he made 19 league appearances, scoring twice.[6] In July 2017, he had a trial for then Premier League side Swansea City, featuring in two U23 friendlies against Glentoran and Cliftonville.[7]

Leeds United

On 8 September 2017, Sarkic joined English side Leeds United on a loan deal until 31 December 2017, being assigned to their under-23 team.[8][9] He signed a permanent deal with Leeds United on 11 January 2018, with the contract running until 2020 and the club option of a further year.[10]

On 1 September 2018, Sarkic joined Spanish Segunda División B club Barakaldo CF on a season-long loan.[11]

Burton Albion

On 27 July 2019, Sarkic joined EFL League One side Burton Albion on trial from Leeds, starting in their pre-season friendly against Chesterfield[12] On 1 August, he joined Albion on a permanent deal for an undisclosed figure.[13] He scored his first goal for Burton in an EFL Cup tie against Bournemouth on 25 September 2019.[14]

Blackpool

Sarkic signed a two-year deal with Blackpool on 9 July 2020.[15] On 1 February 2021, Sarkic joined League Two side Mansfield Town on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.[16]

He was released by the club, in a mutual agreement, on 26 January 2022.[17]

On 3 February 2022, Sarkic joined Uzbekistan Super League side Pakhtakor until the end of the year.[18]

Personal life

Sarkic was born in England, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.[19] His father, Bojan Šarkić,[20] is a Montenegrin diplomat who was ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time of birth. His mother, Natalie Šarkić-Todd, is British and works at a European media network.[21][22] Bojan become ambassador of Belgium later where Oliver and his twin brother, Matija were raised. Both brothers attended the British School of Brussels[23] and played together at Anderlecht.[21][24] On 15 June 2024, Sarkic's brother Matija died in Budva shortly after returning from the Montenegro national team camp, aged 26.[25]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 May 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2014–15[26] LigaPro 19 2 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 19 2
2015–16[26] 25 3 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 25 3
2016–17[26] 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
Benfica B total 44 5 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 44 5
Fafe (loan) 2016–17[26] LigaPro 18 2 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 18 2
Leeds United (loan) 2017–18 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
Leeds United 2018–19 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
Barakaldo (loan) 2018–19[26] Segunda División B 12 1 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 12 1
Burton Albion 2019–20[27] League One 28 3 2 1 4 1 - 3[a] 0 37 5
Blackpool 2020–21[28] League One 5 0 1 0 1 0 - 2[a] 0 9 0
Mansfield Town (loan) 2020–21[28] League Two 4 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 4 0
Pakhtakor 2022 Super League 9 3 0 0 - 4[b] 1 1[c] 0 14 4
Career total 120 14 3 1 5 1 4 1 6 0 138 17
  1. ^ a b Appearances in the Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances and goal in the AFC Champions League
  3. ^ Appearance in the Uzbekistan Super Cup

References

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Leeds United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 22. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ [1] Yorkshire Evening Post
  3. ^ "Oliver Šarkić reforça Benfica" [Oliver Šarkić joins Benfica]. Zerozero (in Portuguese). 1 September 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Benfica B - Porto B (Jornada 22 Segunda Liga 2014-2015) - Liga Portugal". ligaportugal.pt. LPFP. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Benfica B - Oliveirense (Jornada 27 Segunda Liga 2014-2015) - Liga Portugal" (in Portuguese). LPFP. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ^ Oliver Sarkic statistics history, goals, assists, matches FcTables.com
  7. ^ Swans U23s' pre-season tour round-up Swansea FC
  8. ^ "Leeds loan Sarkic". Leeds United. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Oliver Sarkic emprestado ao Leeds United" [Oliver Sarkic loaned out to Leeds United]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  10. ^ "OLIVER SARKIC SIGNS PERMANENT DEAL". Leeds United. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Good luck to #LUFC U23s forward Oliver Sarkic who joins @barakaoficial on a season-long loan". Leeds United Twitter. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Chesterfield vs Burton". Burton Albion. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Oliver Sarkic joins Burton Albion". Leeds United. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Burton 2-0 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Seasiders Snap Up Sarkic". Blackpool FC. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Stags land Blackpool forward". Mansfield Town FC. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Oliver Sarkic Leaves By Mutual Consent". Blackpool Football Club. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  18. ^ "ОЛИВЕР ШАРКИЧ "ПАХТАКОР" БИЛАН ШАРТНОМА ИМЗОЛАДИ" (in Uzbek). Pakhtakor Tashkent FK. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Oliver Šarkić". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  20. ^ Burrows, Tom; Madeley, Steve; more. "Matija Sarkic remembered: 'He was half of me - it's devastating'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  21. ^ a b Pitt-Brooke, Jack (3 October 2017). "Meet the Sarkic twins: born in England, raised in Belgium but trying to make Montenegro history". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Natalie Sarkic-Todd". The Battleground. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Meet the Sarkic twins: born in England, raised in Belgium but trying to make Montenegro history". The Independent. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  24. ^ "Oliver Šarkić – Five Things for Leeds United Fans". The72. September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017. His twin brother, Matija, is on the books at Aston Villa and moved to Wigan Athletic on loan yesterday.
  25. ^ Rotondaro, Vittorio (15 June 2024). "Calcio in lutto: Matija Sarkic è morto a 26 anni". Goal.com (in Italian). Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  26. ^ a b c d e Oliver Sarkic at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  27. ^ "Games played by Oliver Sarkic in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Games played by Oliver Sarkic in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 September 2020.