The ex-Fiorentina striker has rediscovered his goal-scoring touch despite being relegated to the role of reserve in Turin
Dusan Vlahovic grew up idolising Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When he broke into the Partizan Belgrade senior squad as a 16-year-old, he even told his new team-mates that he was going to be Serbia's answer to the Swedish superstar born of Balkan parents.
So, when Vlahovic's Fiorentina met Ibrahimovic's AC Milan in March 2021, the Viola forward approached his hero after the game and asked for his shirt. Ibrahimovic obliged, and even signed it for him. He also added a little message, though: "Keep going and never give up."
Those words have stood Vlahovic in good stead ever since, and particularly during his past year at Juventus. Indeed, resilience is the main reason why a player who was being booed by his own club's fans less than a month ago represents the greatest threat to England's hopes of maintaining their winning start to their World Cup qualification in Belgrade on Tuesday…
AFPNo takers
Just over a year ago, Juventus made it clear that Federico Chiesa simply had to be sold. The cash-strapped Old Lady simply couldn't afford to let the Italy international leave for nothing when his contract was due to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season, so they accepted a late-window offer of €10 million (£8.7m/$11.7m) from Liverpool.
Juve found themselves in a similar situation with Vlahovic this summer. On this occasion, though, no buyer could be found – which, from the outside looking in, seemed so bizarre. Unlike the Chiesa case, there were no major doubts over Vlahovic's fitness. He had undeniably suffered a dramatic dip in form in Turin – just 10 goals in Serie A last season – but the common consensus was that this was a relatively young forward still eminently capable of flourishing at the highest level.
It was felt that all Vlahovic needed was a long overdue change of scenery, and England appeared the most obvious destination, given his fondness for the Premier League and previous links with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham.
Advertisement'Still a Juventus player'
However, while both north London clubs were on the hunt for a new No.9 during the summer, along with Manchester United and Newcastle, not a single member of England's elite submitted a bid for Vlahovic – even though Juve made him available for €25m (£22m/$29m), which was pretty much a third of what they've paid Fiorentina for his services in January 2022.
Milan were keen but were not in a strong enough economic position to meet both the asking price and the striker's wage demands. With Vlahovic also refusing to accept a pay cut as part of a contract extension at Juventus, the Serbian almost inevitably became a target of the Bianconeri boo boys.
During the pre-season fixture against the club's Next Gen team in Turin on August 13, Vlahovic was repeatedly whistled and jeered by certain sections of the home crowd, who blamed him for disrupting the club's transfer plans. Consequently, when the 25-year-old scored just after the hour mark, he pointedly refused to celebrate his goal.
Coach Igor Tudor admitted he had been left disappointed by the supporters' treatment of Vlahovic.
"He trains very professionally," the Croatian coach told reporters after the game, "and he is still a Juventus player." Which is why Tudor continued to call on Vlahovic when the Serie A season began – and to great effect.
Getty Images SportSilencing the boo boys
Although new signing Jonathan David marked his competitive debut for Juve by breaking the deadlock in the opening-weekend win over Parma on August 24, Vlahovic killed the game by scoring just four minutes after being brought off the bench – and stood stone-faced with his arms aloft in front of some of the very same fans that had insulted him 10 days previously.
Exactly a week later, Juve's unlikely super-sub struck again at Genoa, and this time his goal was even more important, as his wonderful header from Filip Kostic's corner decided the game in the visitors' favour.
Even then, though, there was no guarantee that Vlahovic would still be at Juve after the Italian transfer window closed the following evening – particularly as sporting director Damien Comolli was working on a loan deal for RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda, which was eventually sealed on deadline day. Consequently, it's still not clear what Juventus intend to do with Vlahovic, who is reportedly uninterested in moving to either Turkey or Saudi Arabia before the close of their respective transfer windows.
Clearly, a swift summer exit obviously would have been best for everyone involved. Juve really could have done with raising some money from selling Vlahovic to sign Randal Kolo Muani on a permanent basis – or even just strengthen the squad elsewhere. As for Vlahovic, he now runs the risk of spending at least the first half of a World Cup season sitting on the bench – or even in the stands – as there's every chance that he returns to Turin after the international break that he'll find himself behind not only David but also Openda in the pecking order at Juve.
Of course, he could also go back to the Bianconeri with even more of a pep in his step.
AFP'Dusan will always play'
Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic has stood by Vlahovic throughout his recent struggles at Juventus.
"I have a high opinion of Dusan – and his qualities," the Red Star Belgrade legend told reporters in March. "In football, moments arrive in which you're breathing bad air at club level. But with me, he'll always play, because here he has the opportunity to show that what they [Juve] are doing to him is not right."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vlahovic repaid Stojkovic for his incessant support in Riga on Saturday. After netting twice in just 38 minutes of Serie A game time so far this season, Vlahovic required only a further 14 minutes to score what proved the winner in Serbia's World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"I'm still not at my best level," the centre-forward told after his country's 1-0 win, "but if I score in every game, it's good." His impressive strike rate (five goals in his last competitive outings for club and country) is certainly helping him make the best of a bad situation.