Petar Ratkov

Petar Ratkov
Петар Ратков
Ratkov with Salzburg in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-08-18) 18 August 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre-forward
Team information
Current team
 Red Bull Salzburg
Number 21
Youth career
2011–2020 DIF Belgrade
2020–2021 TSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2023 TSC 76 (16)
2023– Red Bull Salzburg 34 (6)
International career‡
2022 Serbia U19 8 (3)
2023– Serbia U21 7 (2)
2023– Serbia 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September 2024

Petar Ratkov (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Ратков; born 18 August 2003) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg and the Serbia national team.[1]

Career

On 18 June 2023, Ratkov signed for reigning Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year contract.[2]

International career

Ratkov is of mixed Bulgarian and Croatian descent. He holds both Serbian and Bulgarian citizenships which made him able to represent Serbia or Bulgaria; he was also eligible to play for Croatia through his mother's aforementioned descent. In September 2023, he declined a call up for Bulgaria, committing himself to the Serbian national team.[3][4]

Ratkov was selected in Serbia's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024, but didn't make any appearances in the tournament.

Style of play

Issue number 375 of the CIES Football Observatory puts Ratkov in the 79th place of 100 best performing U21 outfield players from 32 European leagues according to players’ performance compared to teammates, the employer team’s sporting level, as well as that of opponents, covering eight different game areas: air defence, ground defence, recovery, distribution, take on, chance creation, air attack and shooting. Ratkov is the third-youngest player on the list at the age of 18.6, the only Serbian player on the list, and his game profile is characterized as a target man shooter.[5]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 December 2024[6]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TSC 2020–21 Serbian SuperLiga 9 0 1 0 — — 10 0
2021–22 31 3 0 0 — — 31 3
2022–23 36 13 4 1 — — 40 14
Total 76 16 5 1 — — 81 17
Red Bull Salzburg 2023–24 Austrian Bundesliga 24 5 3 0 6[a] 0 — 33 5
2024–25 Austrian Bundesliga 10 1 2 1 6[a] 0 0 0 18 2
Total 34 6 5 1 12 0 0 0 51 7
Career total 110 22 10 2 12 0 0 0 132 24
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 8 September 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2023 1 0
2024 2 0
Total 3 0

References

  1. ^ "RATKOV PETAR". FK TSC website (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Serbisches Sturmtalent verstärkt unsere Roten Bullen" [Serbian storm talent strengthens our Red Bulls]. www.redbullsalzburg.at/de (in German). 18 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  3. ^ Сръбски нападател е отклонил предложението на Кръстаич да заиграе за България
  4. ^ "HRVATI, BUGARI... ŽELEO SAM SAMO SRBIJU: Petar Ratkov prvi put govori o reprezentaciji! Otkriva i ko mu je od kolega IDOL!". Kurir (in Serbian). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Best performing youngsters: Bukayo Saka at the top". football-observatory. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. ^ Petar Ratkov at Soccerway