Danijel Aleksić

Danijel Aleksić
This person
Personal information
Full name Danijel Aleksić
Date of birth (1991-04-30) 30 April 1991
Place of birth Pula, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
Çorum
Number 9
Youth career
1998–2002 Veternik
2002–2007 Vojvodina
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Vojvodina 48 (8)
2010–2011 Genoa 1 (0)
2010–2011Greuther Fürth (loan) 16 (2)
2012–2014 Saint-Étienne 3 (0)
2012–2014Saint-Étienne B (loan) 32 (12)
2013–2014Arles-Avignon (loan) 1 (0)
2013–2014Arles-Avignon B (loan) 2 (1)
2014 Lechia Gdańsk 3 (0)
2014 Lechia Gdańsk II 6 (3)
2015–2018 St. Gallen 89 (23)
2018–2019 Yeni Malatyaspor 32 (10)
2019 Al-Ahli 1 (1)
2019–2024 İstanbul Başakşehir 138 (27)
2024–2025 Konyaspor 32 (5)
2025– Çorum 6 (1)
International career
2006–2008 Serbia U17 12 (9)
2008–2010 Serbia U19 13 (7)
2008–2011 Serbia U21 8 (1)
2008–2018 Serbia 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 October 2025

Danijel Aleksić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дaниjeл Aлeкcић; born 30 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Çorum.

Early life

Born in Pula, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia, Aleksić's mother fled to Serbia due to the Croatian War of Independence.[1] He never met his biological father and carries his mother's last name.[2]

Club career

Early career in Vojvodina

Aleksić started playing football at the age of seven in a local club Veternik. By the age of 11, he transferred to Vojvodina, where he made it through every age group. Simultaneous to football, Aleksić attended Jovan Vukanović streamlined technical high school.[3] On 5 May 2007, he made his senior debut for Vojvodina under head coach Milovan Rajevac in an away league match against Red Star Belgrade. Being only sixteen years and five days old, Aleksić became the second youngest player ever to appear in a Serbian SuperLiga match (behind Slavko Perović). By the end of the 2006–07 season, he recorded one more league appearance. On 2 April 2008, Aleksić scored his first league goal on 2 April 2008 in a 4–1 home victory against Hajduk Kula.[4]

During Vojvodina's 2008–09 season opening league match, a derby versus Red Star Belgrade, Aleksić scored a 90th-minute goal to put the game beyond reach and ensure a famous 2–0 win for his team.[5] In November 2008, Aleksić started to figure as a transfer target for Serbia's biggest clubs – Red Star and Partizan – however, Vojvodina officials at the time were adamant that they would never sell him to league competitors.[6] In late March 2009, he also reportedly started getting attention from abroad, with scouts from Real Madrid and Villarreal coming to watch him play for the Serbian U19 national squad.[7] For his part, in mid-May 2009, Aleksić said that he would prefer his first transfer abroad to be to Holland's Eredivisie or Germany's Bundesliga.[8]

Genoa

Aleksić signed for Genoa on 19 January 2010,[9] becoming the club's second Serbian signing of the season after Nenad Tomović. Playing under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Aleksić made his Serie A debut against Juventus on 14 February 2010, coming on as a substitute for Domenico Criscito at the 88th minute, in which Genoa lost 3–2. The brief minutes-long runout remained his only league appearance until the end of the 2009–10 Serie A season.

The arrival of striker Luca Toni to Genoa in summer 2010 meant that Aleksić became surplus to club's current requirements, so on 1 July, the latter was set to move to Serie B club Crotone on loan.[10] However, he refused the transfers and eventually remained at Genoa.[11] However, at the end of 2010 summer transfer window, he moved to 2. Bundesliga club SpVgg Greuther Fürth loan until the end of the season 2010–11.[12]

On 28 June 2011, Austria Wien confirmed Aleksić was on trial.[13]

Later career

Aleksić signed for Kavala on 21 August 2011, but after a few months, it was expelled from the Super League Greece and relegated to the Delta Ethniki. As a result, the loan move was canceled and he returned to Genoa.

Aleksić joined Lechia Gdańsk in summer 2014 on a two-year contract,[14] making his debut in a 3–1 defeat against Wisła Kraków.[15] After a poor start with the club, he was demoted to reserve team[16] and received criticism for his performances with the first team.[17] After six months in the club, Aleksić signed for St. Gallen in February 2015. He made four first team appearances at Lechia, failing to score, but had more success with the Lechia II team scoring three goals in six appearances.[18]

International career

At the age of 17 on 16 November 2008, Aleksić debuted for the Serbian senior team under head coach Radomir Antić in a friendly match against Poland in Belek, Turkey, becoming one of Serbia's youngest debutants.[19] Ten years later, he returned to the national team as a late substitute in a UEFA Nations League match against Lithuania.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 June 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Vojvodina 2006–07 Serbian Superliga 2 0 0 0 2 0
2007–08 Serbian Superliga 12 2 0 0 1[b] 0 13 2
2008–09 Serbian Superliga 22 4 1 1 4[b] 0 27 5
2009–10 Serbian Superliga 12 2 3 2 0 0 15 4
Total 48 8 4 3 5 0 57 11
Genoa 2009–10 Serie A 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Greuther Fürth (loan) 2010–11 2. Bundesliga 16 2 1 0 17 2
Saint-Étienne 2011–12 Ligue 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
2012–13 Ligue 1 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 3 0 0 0 3 0
Arles-Avignon (loan) 2013–14 Ligue 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
Lechia Gdańsk 2014–15 Ekstraklasa 3 0 1 0 4 0
St. Gallen 2014–15 Swiss Super League 4 1 0 0 4 1
2015–16 Swiss Super League 33 12 2 0 35 12
2016–17 Swiss Super League 24 3 2 0 26 3
2017–18 Swiss Super League 28 7 3 1 31 8
Total 89 23 7 1 96 24
Yeni Malatyaspor 2018–19 Süper Lig 32 10 6 4 38 14
Al-Ahli 2019–20 Saudi Pro League 1 1 0 0 2[c] 1 3 2
İstanbul Başakşehir 2019–20 Süper Lig 24 6 4 1 7[d] 1 35 8
2020–21 Süper Lig 31 6 3 2 3[e] 0 1[f] 0 38 8
2021–22 Süper Lig 32 6 1 0 33 6
2022–23 Süper Lig 30 8 6 1 14[g] 5 50 14
2023–24 Süper Lig 21 1 3 0 24 1
Total 138 27 17 4 24 6 1 0 180 37
Career total 333 71 36 12 31 7 1 0 400 90
  1. ^ Includes Serbian Cup, DFB-Pokal, Polish Cup, Swiss Cup, Turkish Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Appearances in Turkish Super Cup
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2008 1 0
2018 1 0
Total 2 0

Honours

Saint-Étienne

İstanbul Başakşehir

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Pobegao iz Hrvatske, živeo bez oca, nestao, a sad je šampion: Tumbaković više ne sme da ga ignoriše!". Telegraf (in Serbian). 21 July 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  2. ^ "Trnovit put Vošinog "vunderkinda"". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 28 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Srpski vunderkind". Večernje novosti (in Serbian). 13 October 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Bežanija iznenadila Partizan!". B92 (in Serbian). 2 April 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  5. ^ "SL: Vojvodina slavila u derbiju!" (in Serbian). MTS Mondo. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Zvezda Hoće Aleksića, Bata Ni Da Čuje". Press Online (in Serbian). 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Skauti Reala gledali Aleksića u Inđiji". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Aleksić: Privlači me magija Bundeslige". Blic (in Serbian). Ringier. 16 May 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  9. ^ Siljanovski, Vladko (19 January 2010). "Genoa win Aleksic chase". Sky Sports. Sky Group. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Toni poslao Aleksića u Krotone". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 1 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Salta l'arrivo di Aleksic al Crotone". Crotone Sport (in Italian). 23 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  12. ^ "Aleksić u Grojter Firtu". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 1 September 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  13. ^ "Austria testet in Flachau einen serbischen Stürmer" (in German). fk-austria.at. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Danijel Aleksić zawodnikiem Lechii Gdańsk". Lechia Gdańsk (in Polish). Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  15. ^ "2014/15 Ekstraklasa". Lechia Gdansk.
  16. ^ "Danijel Aleksić: Liczę, że rezerwy to dla mnie przeszłość". sport.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  17. ^ "Danijel Aleksić – ogórek z Lechii stał się kozakiem w Szwajcarii". Weszlo (in Polish). 1 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  18. ^ "2014–15 III Liga". Lechia Gdańsk (in Polish). Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  19. ^ a b Данијел Алексић после десет година поново у репрезентацији: Био сам изненађен. Sportski žurnal (in Serbian). 16 November 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  20. ^ "D. Aleksić Soccerway stats". Soccerway. Platform Group. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Istanbul's Medipol Başakşehir wins first ever Turkish Süper Lig title". Daily Sabah. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  22. ^ 2008: Danijel Aleksić in UEFA.com