Predrag Pavlović

Predrag Pavlović (; born 19 June 1986) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career Born in Kruševac, Pavlović made his first football steps at his hometown club Napredak. He would join the youth system of Partizan in 2002, becoming a member of their promising generation, consisting of Nebojša Marinković, Milan Smiljanić and Borko Veselinović, among others. In order to get senior team experience, Pavlović was sent on loan to his parent club Napredak in the 2004–05 season. He returned to Partizan in the summer of 2005, being assigned to their satellite club Teleoptik, before eventually going back on loan to Napredak in January 2006.

In the summer of 2006, Pavlović signed a permanent contract with Napredak, before the club got promoted to the Serbian SuperLiga in 2007. He had a breakthrough season in 2007–08, scoring eight goals in 30 league appearances. After failing to complete his move to Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in August 2008, Pavlović spent two more seasons at Napredak, but struggled to recover his old form.

In the summer of 2010, Pavlović moved abroad to Hungary and signed with Debrecen. He made two cup appearances for the first team, but also played for their reserve team in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II, before being released near the end of the year. In January 2011, Pavlović returned to his homeland, having a six-month stint with Metalac Gornji Milanovac.

On 12 July 2011, Pavlović signed a four-year contract with OFK Beograd. He retired from professional football in October 2013, at the age of 27, due to a long history of injury problems. However, Pavlović came out of retirement in February of the following year by signing with Novi Pazar.

In January 2016, Pavlović moved abroad for the second time and joined Lithuanian side Sūduva. He played one season for the club, helping them reach the national cup final. In January 2017, Pavlović returned to his homeland and joined Mladost Lučani. He would make 108 appearances and score 20 goals across all competitions over the next three and a half seasons.

International career Pavlović represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2005 UEFA Under-19 Championship in Northern Ireland. He played the full 90 minutes in all of his team's four games, as they were eliminated by England in the semi-final. Already capped for the Serbia national under-21 team, Pavlović made one appearance at the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship, which was hosted in the Netherlands, losing to the hosts in the final.

Pavlović was also selected to represent Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but failed to make an appearance in the tournament. He previously played in two friendlies against China U23.

Career statistics

Honours Sūduva Lithuanian Cup runner-up: 2016 Mladost Lučani Serbian Cup runner-up: 2017–18 Serbia U21 UEFA Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2007