Matija Sarkic

Matija Sarkic (Serbian Cyrillic: Матија Шаркић; born 23 July 1997) is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for League One club Shrewsbury Town, on loan from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Montenegro national team.

Matija Sarkic
Personal information
Full name Matija Sarkic[1]
Date of birth (1997-07-23) 23 July 1997[2]
Place of birth Grimsby, England
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.95 m)[3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Shrewsbury Town
(on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Number 31
Youth career
0000–2015 Anderlecht
2015–2017 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2020 Aston Villa 0 (0)
2017–2018 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Stratford Town (loan) 6 (0)
2019 → Havant & Waterlooville (loan) 1 (0)
2019–2020 → Livingston (loan) 14 (0)
2020– Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0)
2020– → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 10 (0)
National team‡
2013 Montenegro U17 3 (0)
2014–2016 Montenegro U19 12 (0)
2015–2018 Montenegro U21 6 (0)
2019– Montenegro 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:58, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:42, 09 November 2020 (UTC)

Sarkic came through the academy of Anderlecht before signing with Aston Villa in 2015. He has represented the Montenegro at youth level before making his debut for the senior national team in November 2019.

Club career

Aston Villa

Sarkic graduated from the youth academy of Belgian club Anderlecht before signing a three-year contract with English club Aston Villa on 1 September 2015.[4] He was the club's under-21 team's goalkeeper for the 2015–2016 season which saw the club reach the Division Two play-off final. In April 2017, he was named on the bench for a league match against Reading as cover for Sam Johnstone following an injury to Mark Bunn.[5]

On 31 August 2017, Sarkic joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan deal.[6] In December 2018, he joined Stratford Town on a youth loan.[7]

On 26 June 2019, Sarkic signed for Livingston on what was intended to be a season-long loan.[8] Sarkic was recalled by Aston Villa on 3 January 2020, as their first-choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton had suffered a knee injury.[9]

Sarkic was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2019–20 season.[10]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sarkic signed for Villa's Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27 July 2020 on a three-year contract.[11]

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

On 2 September 2020, Sarkic joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on a season-long loan.[12] He made his debut for The Shrews on 12 September, starting in a 0–0 draw away at Portsmouth.[13]

International career

Sarkic represented Montenegro U17 at the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[4]In 2017 he won the bronze medal in the Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament 2017.[14][15]On 19 November 2019, he made his debut for the Montenegrin national team under coach Faruk Hadžibegić in a 2–0 friendly win against Belarus.[16]

Personal life

Sarkic was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.[17] His father Bojan Šarkić is a Montenegrin diplomat who, as of October 2017, is the country's ambassador to the European Union. He has previously served as the ambassador to United Kingdom and Belgium. His mother Natalie Šarkić-Todd works at a European media network. Matija has a twin brother Oliver Sarkic with whom he played alongside during his spell at Anderlecht.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 29 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 2017–18[19] Championship 0000000000
2018–19[20] Championship 0000000000
2019–20[21] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Wigan Athletic (loan) 2017–18[19] League One 0020001[lower-alpha 1]030
Stratford Town (loan) 2018–19[22] Southern League Premier Division Central 6000—1[lower-alpha 2]070
Havant & Waterlooville (loan) 2018–19[20] National League 1000—0010
Livingston (loan) 2019–20[21] Scottish Premiership 140004000180
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2020–21[23] Premier League 0000000000
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 2020–21[23] League One 10010001[lower-alpha 1]0120
Career total 310304030410
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearance in Southern League Cup

International
As of match played 19 November 2019[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Montenegro 201910
Total10

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Aston Villa" (PDF). English Football League. p. 2. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. "Matija Sarkic: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. "Matija Sarkic: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. "Aston Villa sign goalkeeper Matija Sarkic from Anderlecht". ESPN. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. "Who is Matija Sarkic: Quick lowdown on the Aston Villa substitute against Reading". Birmingham Mail. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. "Alex Bruce and Matija Sarkic: Wigan Athletic sign centre-back and goalkeeper". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  7. "Two new faces at Stratford Town". Stratford Herald. 20 December 2018.
  8. "Matija Sarkic: Livingston sign Aston Villa goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  9. Carson, Callum (3 January 2020). "Aston Villa recall keeper Matija Sarkic from Livingston following injury to first choice Tom Heaton". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  10. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 released lists". Premier League. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  11. "Wolves secure Sarkic transfer". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  12. Cox, Lewis (2 September 2020). "Shrewsbury Town sign Wolves goalkeeper Matija Sarkic on loan". Shropshire Star.
  13. "Portsmouth 0–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. 12 September 2020.
  14. "Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  15. "Squadlist of Montenegro". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  16. Vukotić, Danilo (19 November 2019). "Pobjeda za kraj godine" [Victory for the end of the year]. fscg.me (in Montenegrin). Montenegrin Football Association. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  17. Cusick, Aiden. "New signing Oliver Sarkic tweets for first time since joining Leeds United".
  18. "Meet the Sarkic twins: born in England, raised in Belgium but trying to make Montenegro history". The Independent. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  19. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  20. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  21. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  23. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  24. "Sarkic, Matija". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
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