Vladan Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Владан Ковачевић, ; born 11 April 1998) is a Bosnian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Ekstraklasa club

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, on loan from Portuguese club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. Kovačević started his professional career at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, who loaned him to Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad in 2018.

Club career

Sarajevo

Kovačević started playing football at his howetown club Željezničar Banja Luka, before joining

's youth academy in 2014. In February 2018, he was sent on a six-month loan to Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad. He made his professional debut against Kozara Gradiška on 17 March at the age of 19. In August, Kovačević signed a new five-year deal with Sarajevo. On 5 August, he made his official debut for the team against Sloboda Tuzla. He won his first title with the club on 15 May 2019, by beating

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

in Bosnian Cup final.

Raków Częstochowa

In June 2021, Kovačević was transferred to Polish outfit

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of natio ...

for an undisclosed fee. He made his competitive debut for the club in

2021 Polish Super Cup The 2021 Polish Super Cup was the 31st Polish Super Cup, an annual Polish football match played between the reigning winners of the Ekstraklasa and Polish Cup. The Ekstraklasa champions Legia Warsaw faced Polish Cup winners Raków Częstochowa. ...

game against

on 17 July and managed to win his first trophy. A week later, he made his league debut against

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2025–26, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. Histo ...

. In July 2022, he extended his contract until June 2026.

Sporting CP

On 5 June 2024, reigning

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

champions

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

announced the signing of Kovačević, for a reported fee of €6 million. He signed a five-year contract, with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

of €60 million. On 6 February 2025, he joined Ekstraklasa club

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

Youth

Kovačević was a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team under coach

Vinko Marinović Vinko Marinović (born 3 March 1971) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team. Club career Marinović started playing football at nine years of age with the ...

Senior

In May 2019, he received his first senior Bosnia and Herzegovina call-up, for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, but did not debut. In February 2023, Kovačević accepted an invitation to the Serbia national team and was expected to make his debut in June. However, according to

FIFA eligibility rules In association football, the FIFA eligibility rules are the eligibility criteria established by FIFA (International Association Football Federation), the sport's governing body, to facilitate the selection of representative teams for internationa ...

, Kovačević can only play for the

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team (; ; ) represents Bosnia and Herzegovina in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is governed by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until 1992 Bo ...

Personal life

Kovačević is a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...

. He married his long-time girlfriend Sofija in June 2022. Together they have two daughters named Zona and Sija.

Career statistics

Honours

Sarajevo *

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20 * Bosnian Cup: 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Raków Częstochowa *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 2021–22 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Legia Warsaw * Polish Cup: 2024–25 Sporting CP *

: 2024–25 Individual * Ekstraklasa Goalkeeper of the Season: 2021–22,

References

External links