Predrag Mijatović

Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović (Предраг Мијатовић, ; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

At club level, Mijatović played for six clubs: Budućnost, Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante.

From the 1987–88 season, Mijatović became a regular at Budućnost under new head coach Stanko Poklepović.

In October 1987, he was a member of the Yugoslav youth squad which competed in and won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile.

Upon his return to Budućnost, Mijatović's spot on the squad was now cemented alongside Dejan Savićević, Dragoljub Brnović and Branko Brnović, who also represented Yugoslavia in Chile.

Mijatović made 31 league appearances and contributed four goals as Budućnost finished the season in ninth position.

Coach Fabio Capello often deployed Mijatović in a strike tandem with Šuker, reviving their partnership from their time in Yugoslavia's youth team at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.

During the winter of 1989–90, Mijatović nearly signed with Hajduk Split after negotiating with Hajduk's sporting director Jurica Jerković, with even a DM50,000 pre-contract payment given to the player.

However, Partizan club president Mirko Marjanović stepped in and convinced Mijatović to join the Belgrade-based club instead.

In December 1989, Partizan ultimately paid a DM1 million transfer fee to Budućnost for Mijatović.

This was at time the highest transfer within the Yugoslav league.

In later interviews, Mijatović said a deteriorating political and security situation in Yugoslavia was a factor in his decision not to join the Croatian club Hajduk.

Though he scored on his Partizan debut against his former club Budućnost, Mijatović's debut half season in the new club under head coach Ivan Golac was mostly spent settling into the new surroundings.

He failed to score in his following 14 league appearances until the end of the 1989–90 league season.

However, Mijatović continued improving, becoming the squad's undisputed leader during 1991–92 season under head coach Ivica Osim, and leading Partizan to the 1992 Yugoslav Cup title over reigning European Cup champions Red Star Belgrade.

He was also named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year award en route.

At Partizan, Mijatović had been linked with various top European sides, which included Juventus.

He joined Valencia in the summer of 1993.

Mijatović made his Valencia debut on 5 September 1993 against Real Oviedo.

Mijatović scored 28 goals in the 1995–96 La Liga season for Valencia, which prompted a move to Real Madrid, where he scored a goal in the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final which ensured Madrid's first European Cup in 32 years.

He won the Spanish Footballer of the Year award in the 1995–96 season, having scored 28 goals in 40 La Liga matches.

As the second best goal-scorer in the league, he was the runner-up for the Pichichi Trophy, second only to Juan Antonio Pizzi.

Mijatović's contributions helped Valencia finish in second place behind Atlético Madrid that season.

On 13 February 1996, Mijatović signed an advanced contract with Real Madrid mandating that he join the club from Valencia in the summer of 1996 for a transfer fee of Pts. 1.5 million.

Former Yugoslavia teammate Davor Šuker, as well as Clarence Seedorf and Roberto Carlos, also joined Real Madrid in the summer 1996 transfer window.

Over the course of the 1996–97 La Liga season, Mijatović scored a total of 14 goals; he scored one goal in Real Madrid's 2–0 victory over Barcelona the El Clásico on 7 December 1996, escaping from Miguel Ángel Nadal and Laurent Blanc before lifting the ball over Vítor Baía to score.

In 1997, Mijatović was named runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, behind Ronaldo and ahead of Zinedine Zidane.

By the end of the season, Real Madrid were first in La Liga and also claimed the 1997 Supercopa de España over Barcelona.

Internationally, he played for FR Yugoslavia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and at the UEFA Euro 2000.

During his career at Real Madrid he was widely considered as one of the best strikers in the world.

On 20 May 1998, Mijatović scored the winning goal in Real Madrid's 1–0 victory over Juventus in the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final.

This was Real Madrid's first UEFA Champions League after 32 years.

The following season was Mijatović's final season with Los Blancos; at the end of the season, the 30-year-old Mijatović was sold to Italian Serie A club Fiorentina.

On 28 June 1999, Mijatović signed a three-year contract with Fiorentina for 17 billion Italian lire.

His earliest performances at Fiorentina were promising; in spite of Fiorentina's attacking depth with the likes of Gabriel Batistuta, coach Giovanni Trapattoni initially chose Mijatović as a starter.

On 26 July 1999, Mijatović scored the opening goal in Fiorentina's 4–0 victory over Aston Villa in the Gotham Cup finals in New York City, a pre-season exhibition tournament.

He played at Fiorentina for two seasons, scoring four goals within the Serie A, and added a Coppa Italia title to his honours.

Additionally, he featured in Fiorentina's 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League campaign, which resulted in a third-place finish in Group B of the second group stage behind Manchester United and former club Valencia.

Mijatović joined Levante UD in the summer of 2002.

After his playing career, he served as director of football for Real Madrid from 2006 to 2009.