Adem Ljajić

Adem Ljajić (Адем Љајић, ; born 29 September 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Novi Pazar.

Ljajić began his career with FK Jošanica, and later Partizan, with whom he made his debut in the Serbian SuperLiga and UEFA Champions League.

Born in Novi Pazar in the Serbian region of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ljajić joined Partizan at age 14 in 2005, signing from Serbian lower tier club FK Jošanica.

Ljajić was the first player to wear the number 22 for Partizan after Saša Ilić transferred to Galatasaray in 2005.

Ljajić made an appearance for Partizan in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League on 29 July 2008 as a second-half substitute.

He made a second substitute appearance in the second leg and another substitute appearance in the second leg of the third qualifying round.

He scored his first competitive goal for Partizan on 23 November 2008 in a league match against OFK Beograd.

In October 2008, Manchester United had given Ljajić a trial, although no information was given about the length of the trial initially.

On 2 January 2009, Manchester United announced the signings of both Ljajić and his Partizan teammate, Zoran Tošić.

Tošić would join the club immediately while Ljajić would remain at Partizan for the remainder of 2009, joining United in January 2010.

In January 2010, he was set to join England's Manchester United, but the club withdrew its option to sign him in December 2009.

Instead, he joined Fiorentina for a reported fee of around €8 million in January 2010.

Ljajić made his senior international debut for Serbia in 2010.

Despite being unable to officially join the club until January 2010, Ljajić made regular trips to Manchester throughout 2009 to train with the United first team, so the club's coaches could monitor his progress.

However, United decided not to take up their option to sign Ljajić due to issues surrounding the club's application for a work permit.

Following the transfer's collapse, Partizan manager Goran Stevanović claimed the situation had put Ljajić into "psychological shock" but that Ljajić was "handling the situation well".

Partizan director of football Ivan Tomić said, "I think that they will regret this decision in future."

On 13 January 2010, Italian Serie A club Fiorentina announced the signing of Ljajić.

After passing a medical, Ljajić signed a five-year contract, with Partizan receiving a reported fee of €8 million for the player.

Ljajić made his debut in Fiorentina's 2–2 draw away to Cagliari on 31 January 2010, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Manuel Pasqual.

However, his first half-season at the club under head coach Cesare Prandelli was spent settling into the new surroundings.

The arrival of Ljajić's compatriot Siniša Mihajlović as head coach saw increased first-team opportunities for Ljajić.

He scored his first Viola goal from the penalty spot against Lazio on 18 September 2010, which Fiorentina lost 1–2.

From 2012 to 2014, he was frozen out of the team by manager Siniša Mihajlović for objecting to singing the Serbian national anthem.

On 2 May 2012, Ljajić was substituted in a match against Novara.

His reaction to this substitution was to sarcastically applaud the manager Delio Rossi, who grabbed and attempted to punch Ljajić.

Fiorentina announced after the match that Rossi had been dismissed as manager and that they would take proportionate measures against Ljajić.

Ljajić's teammate Valon Behrami, who was on the substitutes' bench at the time of the incident, said no one, including him, had heard Ljajić insult Rossi, which disproved Rossi's claims Ljajić insulted his family.

Behrami added Rossi should be ashamed for his actions as well as for lying to the media.

In August 2013, after three years in Florence, Ljajić joined Roma for an €11 million fee, signing a four-year contract.

Ljajić scored a brace as La Viola beat Internazionale 4–1 on 17 February 2013.

Ljajić signed with Roma on 28 August 2013 for a fee of €11 million, potentially rising to €15 million depending on the club's success, with Ljajić signing a four-year contract.

He chose the number 8 jersey, left vacant by Erik Lamela, which Ljajić also used with the Serbia national team.

On 1 September 2013, Ljajić made his Roma debut in a match against Hellas Verona, replacing Alessandro Florenzi; Ljajić scored the final goal in 3–0 win.

In his first season in Rome, Ljajić scored 6 goals in 32 appearances.

On 30 August 2014, Ljajić made his 2014–15 season debut in a 2–0 win for the Giallorossi over Fiorentina.

On 24 September, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 Roma victory over Parma.

On 6 December, he scored his first brace for Roma, which allowed Roma to come back and draw the home match against Sassuolo, which finished 2–2.

In July 2016, he was sold to Torino.

He was part of the Serbian squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.