Manchester United are very close to signing a deal with Partizan for Filip Stevanovic for a fee of around £10m. Transfer mogul Fabrizio Romano and Stevanovic himself confirmed via Instagram that he is moving to United.
Born in Serbia, Stevanovic took his first footballing steps at a local club named Vrani? and then later joined the youth system of FC Partizan.
He made his senior debut for Partizan on 9 December 2018 in a 3-0 win against Rad in the Siberian league. He came off the bench in the 82nd minute. The young winger made three more appearances for Partizan that season. Then Partizan manager Zoran Mirkovic was impressed with Stevanovic.
On 1 August 2019, Stevanovi? became the youngest ever scorer in his club’s history at 16 years and 311 days old. He scored his first goal coming on as a substitute in the return leg of the Europa League second qualifying round.
He impressed United’s scouts when he played against the Red Devils in group stage games.
Style of play
A wide forward who can play across all positions, Stevanovic is a versatile attacker who likes to plays on the left-wing. The player exhibits confidence when he gets hold of the ball. He is extremely agile and coordinates himself, combining his mental capacities with his physical presence as a naturally quick and elegant player. He’s scored nine goals and grabbed three assists in 35 appearances this season.
Strengths
One of the key aspects of his game is his dribbling ability. Being a risk-taker, Stevanovic tries to get into positions where he can take the defenders on in a 1v1 situation and often uses his skills to get the better of them. However, we cannot underestimate his shooting capacities as well. Stevanovic possesses a great first touch which helps the winger in steadying himself and is also known for his creativity and has a honed vision known for trying to find the right pass at the right time. The winger often uses his pace to get out of tight spots and looks to terrorize the opposition defense every time he gets the ball.
His style is similar to that of United legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was also signed after United played Sporting and all the players including the dtaff were mesmerized by him. Filip Stevanovic’s story is same.
Weakness
The winger doesn’t contribute defensively and is often guilty of not tracking back when the team needs him.
Stevanovic is also not a good header of the ball, with his inability to head the ball letting the team down on set-piece situations and also limits his game as a target man.
In an interview with MONDO in 2019, the Serbian youngster told the media that he doesn’t “like to praise himself, because I think others should do it”.
Future
It is too early to say whether he will be a hit or a flop at the Theatre of Dreams. However, he caught the attention and secured the deal to one of the best clubs in the world. The real challenge remains whether he’ll be able to live up to his potential or not.
The Serbian Telegraph suggests that he will be loaned back to Partizan for the 2020-21 and join United a season later. This is a clever strategy as he is clearly too good to be playing for United’s youth setup.
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