Dejan Savićević (, ; born 15 September 1966) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Since 2001, he has been the president of the Montenegrin Football Association (FSCG),UEFA Magazine – Montenegro's new dawn by Aleksandar Bošković currently in his fifth term at the post.
Savićević was considered one of the best players in the world during the 1990s, and is regarded as one of the greatest Yugoslav footballers of all time. During his time in AC Milan, he was nicknamed Il Genio (The Genius) by the Italian sports press.
After beginning his professional career with hometown side Budućnost in Yugoslavia, Savićević moved to the more established Yugoslav First League club Red Star Belgrade in 1988 where he became prominent part of the team that won the 1990–91 European Cup—coming second in the 1991 Ballon d’Or voting—before making a big money transfer to Italian champions AC Milan in 1992. With Milan, he won three Serie A titles and the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, among other trophies. He later returned to Red Star for half a season in 1999, before ending his career with Rapid Wien in 2001.
At the international level, he represented Yugoslavia at the 1990 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and, after retiring from playing, coached the Serbia and Montenegro national team from 2001 until 2003.
Following a professional playing career of 18 seasons, and a short unsuccessful head coaching stint during the early 2000's, Savićević became the president of the Montenegrin Football Association during the Summer of 2001.
Early life Born to father Vladimir Savićević, an employee of the state-owned Titograd railway transport company, and mother Vojislava "Vojka" Đurović, an administrative clerk in the same company, Dejan grew up with a younger brother Goran in the family's apartment located in Titograd's Drač neighbourhood near the Titograd railway station.
From early adolescence, he took up street football as an activity with neighbourhood friends—playing on outdoor surfaces in the vicinity of his apartment building, mostly on a nearby field called Đečevića Livada.
Futsal and youth football Savićević's first attempt at playing structured association football took place at age 13 in the fall of 1979 within Budućnost's youth system under coach Dragan Šaković. Barely a teenager, Savićević arrived there on recommendation from lower league FK Grafičar Titograd goalkeeper Čedo Šaković, cousin of Budućnost's youth coach. However, only three months into young Savićević's participation at Budućnost, coach Šaković was transferred to the club's first team coaching staff and his successor at the youth coach position decided not to include Savićević in the squad being taken to a youth tournament in Borovo. Disappointed about being cut, young Savićević quit the team altogether and went back to playing street football.
His street football activity would soon take on a slightly more serious note with participation at outdoor concrete and clay surface futsal tournaments. Due to the popularity of this five-a-side "scaled-down football" in Titograd at the time (known as "mali fudbal" throughout the Balkans), many tournaments of semi-formal character were being organized in and around town, giving the youngster plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills. Savićević played for an informal futsal team—consisting of men from his street—named Tehnohemija after the entire block of apartment buildings in the neighbourhood where they lived. More than able to hold his own with and against men considerably older than him, the youngster quickly marked himself out as a skilled street baller with great ball control and good overall technical ability. During this time, Savićević often played with or against a neighbourhood friend three years his senior, Željko Gašić, who would go on to become widely recognized as the best futsal player in Montenegro and among the best in SFR Yugoslavia.
In the summer of 1981, following a two-year period (1979–1981) during which he only played street football and futsal, teenager Savićević's involvement with structured association football began in earnest in the youth teams of OFK Titograd under youth team coach Vaso Ivanović. Almost fifteen years of age at the time of joining OFK Titograd—considered fairly late to be starting out by professional football standards—Savićević continued playing street football in parallel with OFK.
After a year and a half at OFK Titograd's youth setup, in January 1983, sixteen-year-old Savićević was attached to the club's full squad struggling near the bottom of the Yugoslav Second League East Division. Within weeks of joining the full squad, as part of the winter break training, he played at a friendly tournament in Nikšić against the SR Montenegro-based Second League competitors Sutjeska Nikšić and Lovćen as well as top-tier league club Budućnost. Knowing that the appearance against Budućnost would be a good showcase for him but already running high fever following his appearance against Sutjeska in wintry conditions at the first match in the friendly tournament, teenage Savićević so desperately wanted to play that he kept silent about his health to his OFK Titograd coach. Despite lasting only a half against Budućnost, Savićević still did enough to get Budućnost head coach Milutin Folić's attention. And although Savićević's ailment soon progressed into full-blown pneumonia, by February 1983, the teenager got his wish of transferring across town to the more established Budućnost without appearing in any competitive matches for OFK Titograd's full squad.
Club career Budućnost Teenage Savićević played at Budućnost's youth setup from January 1983 until summer 1984, a period during which he recorded nine league appearances (most of them substitute) for the full squad as well. The club signed him to a 4-year stipend-based agreement, which was not a professional contract. Furthermore, throughout this period, he had been receiving regular call-ups to the Yugoslavia national under-20 football team as well as SR Montenegro youth select team (alongside future notable professionals such as Božidar Bandović and Refik Šabanadžović) that competed at annual tournaments against other Yugoslav republics' select squads.
On 5 October 1983, week 10 of the league season, due to an injury incurred by the starting forward Željko Janović, head coach Folić gave the seventeen-year-old Savićević his first full-squad starting appearance at home versus Red Star Belgrade and the youngster ended up scoring on an 81st minute put-back that he chased down ahead of Red Star's defender Zoran Banković and its goalkeeper Tomislav Ivković. Savićević's first-ever top-flight goal ended up being the winning one as Budućnost recorded a famous 1-0 league victory over the heavily favoured Belgrade visitors.
1984–85 season: regular playing time In the summer of 1984, in preparation for the upcoming 1984–85 league season, newly arrived head coach Josip Duvančić made seventeen-year-old Savićević a full squad member at the expense of the thirty-two-year-old club legend Ante Miročević who was essentially incentivized to retire by being given a position on the club's coaching staff.
With a new coach, in addition to two established player acquisitions—goalkeeper Rade Zalad from Partizan and striker Radomir Savić who arrived from Spartak Subotica having previously gained big-match experience at Red Star Belgrade and FK Sarajevo—expectations were raised. After two consecutive seasons of finishing barely above the relegation zone, now with a squad featuring long-time club regulars Duško Vlaisavljević, forward Žarko Vukčević, Muhamed Koljenović, Rade Vešović, defender Zoran Vorotović, striker Željko Janović, midfielder Dragoljub Brnović, and defender Slavko Vlahović, the club was hoping for a top half of the table league performance. However, the season quickly turned into yet another disaster as Budućnost barely avoided relegation again with Duvančić sacked only six months into the league campaign. For Savićević personally, the campaign marked a bit of a breakthrough as he recorded 29 league appearances, scoring six goals and clearly establishing himself as the club's best young asset.
1985–86 season: professional contract
During the summer 1985 transfer window, not content with waiting around for the Budućnost management to accommodate him financially, soon to be nineteen-year-old Savićević looked to leave the club in search of a professional contract. To that end, he went to Red Star Belgrade on his own initiative and got to the club's technical director Dragan Džajić who in turn had retired referee look at Savićević's stipend agreement at Budućnost with a view of examining the legal basis for a possible transfer.Osim ubija želju;Duga, February 1987 Zečević reportedly determined that in order to transfer to Red Star at this time, despite not being under a professional contract with Budućnost, Savićević would still require Budućnost's permission, which the Titograd club was unlikely to give. Another option was for Red Star to financially compensate Budućnost in order to let the player go, however, the Belgrade club was not sufficiently interested in Savićević at this particular time to do that. As a parting bit of career advice on this occasion, Džajić reportedly counseled Savićević not to sign a professional contract with Budućnost at all and then come to Red Star two years later in 1987 on a free transfer once his stipend agreement expires.
Wanting the security of a professional contract, Savićević continued pursuing it, going straight to Nikšić the same summer and getting a verbal commitment from FK Sutjeska that seemed ready to pay a large sum to Budućnost in order to have the talented youngster. However, the move soon fell through and Savićević was back home in Titograd where Budućnost offered him a four-year professional contract, which he decided to accept thus putting his stipend agreement with the club out of effect. In addition to the YUD35-40 million monthly salary, his Budućnost contract contained a stipulation about the entire deal being void if the club fails to provide him with a two-bedroom apartment by summer 1987.
The season, Savićević's first as a professional footballer, was marked by another desperate struggle to stay up until the very last week of league fixtures. With a new head coach Srboljub Markušević and a team featuring midfielder Dragoljub Brnović, Duško Vlaisavljević, Muhamed Koljenović, defender Zoran Vorotović, Rade Vešović, striker Željko Janović, and defender Slavko Vlahović, Budućnost managed to avoid relegation again amid a huge league-wide match-fixing scandal that erupted in Yugoslavia. For Savićević personally, despite good numbers, team-leading 10 goals in 32 league matches, the season was one of stagnation and antagonism as he butted heads with the club's management and head coach Markušević on a regular basis, even losing his starting spot and getting suspended over a row with teammate Vorotović towards the end of the league campaign.
1986–87 season: renaissance under Živadinović, national team debut Ahead of the 1986–87 season, head coach Milan Živadinović took over the reins, bringing in a number of new signings such as midfielder Miladin Pešterac.
The team started their league campaign off exceptionally well, continually keeping pace with teams at the top of the table. Among the notable results Budućnost posted during this great run was getting a 1–1 draw versus Partizan away at JNA Stadium in mid August 1986, beating Red Star Belgrade 1–2 away at their Marakana ground in mid October 1986, as well as winning over Hajduk Split by the same score away at their Poljud Stadium in late November 1986. As the league winter break commenced in mid December 1986, the Titograd club was in fourth place—behind Vardar, Partizan, and Velež.