Matija Sarkic

Matija Sarkic (Montenegrin: Матија Шаркић, romanized: Matija Šarkić; born 23 July 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Birmingham City, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Premier League, and for the Montenegro national team.

Matija Sarkic
Sarkic with Birmingham City in 2021
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)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Birmingham City (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Number 13
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)
2020–2021 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 26 (0)
2021– → Birmingham City (loan) 21 (0)
National team‡
2013 Montenegro U17 3 (0)
2014–2016 Montenegro U19 12 (0)
2015–2018 Montenegro U21 6 (0)
2019– Montenegro 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:59, 12 December 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:59, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

Sarkic came through the academy of Anderlecht before signing with Aston Villa in 2015. He spent time on loan at Wigan Athletic, for whom he made his Football League debut, non-league clubs Stratford Town and Havant & Waterlooville, and Livingston of the Scottish Premiership, before moving on to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020. He then joined Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City on loan.

He represented 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.[3] He was the goalkeeper for Villa's under-21 team who reached the Division Two play-off final in the 2015–16 season. 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.[4]

Sarkic joined Wigan Athletic on 31 August 2017 on a season-long loan.[5] In December 2018, he joined Stratford Town on a youth loan.[6]

On 26 June 2019, Sarkic signed for Scottish Premiership club Livingston on what was intended to be a season-long loan,[7] but he was recalled by Aston Villa on 3 January 2020, as their first-choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton had suffered a knee injury.[8]

Sarkic was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2019–20 season.[9]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sarkic signed for Villa's Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27 July 2020 on a three-year contract.[10]

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

On 2 September 2020, Sarkic joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on a season-long loan.[11] He made his debut on 12 September, starting in a goalless draw away at Portsmouth.[12]

Birmingham City (loan)

Sarkic joined Championship club Birmingham City on 26 July 2021 on loan for the season.[13] With previous first-choice goalkeeper Neil Etheridge still recovering from COVID-19, Sarkic started the opening-day fixture away to Sheffield United and kept a clean sheet as Birmingham won 1–0.[14]

International career

Sarkic represented Montenegro U17 at the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[3] He won the bronze medal at the 2017 Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament.[15][16] On 19 November 2019, he made his debut for the Montenegrin senior team under coach Faruk Hadžibegić in a 2–0 friendly win against Belarus.[17] Sarkic made his first competitive appearance for his country in a 2022 World Cup qualifier away to the Netherlands, who won 4–0.[18][19]

Personal life

Sarkic was born in England, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.[18] His father, Bojan Šarkić, is a Montenegrin diplomat who, as of October 2017, was the country's ambassador to the European Union. He previously served as ambassador to the United Kingdom and to Belgium. His mother, Natalie Šarkić-Todd, works at a European media network. Matija has a twin brother Oliver Sarkic with whom he played during his spell at Anderlecht.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 11 December 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 2017–18[21] Championship 0000000000
2018–19[22] Championship 0000000000
2019–20[23] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Wigan Athletic (loan) 2017–18[21] League One 0020001[lower-alpha 3]030
Stratford Town (loan) 2018–19[24][25] Southern League Premier Division Central 6000—1[lower-alpha 4]070
Havant & Waterlooville (loan) 2018–19[24] National League 1000—0010
Livingston (loan) 2019–20[23] Scottish Premiership 140004000180
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2020–21[26] Premier League 0000000000
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 2020–21[26] League One 26020001[lower-alpha 3]0290
Birmingham City (loan) 2021–22[27] Championship 2100000—210
Career total 680404030790
  1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  4. Appearance in Southern League Cup

International
As of match played 16 November 2021[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Montenegro 201910
202000
202140
Total50

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". Premier League. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. "Aston Villa sign goalkeeper Matija Sarkic from Anderlecht". ESPN. PA Sport. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  4. Kendrick, Mat (15 April 2017). "Who is Matija Sarkic: Quick lowdown on the Aston Villa substitute against Reading". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  5. "Alex Bruce and Matija Sarkic: Wigan Athletic sign centre-back and goalkeeper". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  6. Gibbons, Craig (20 December 2018). "Two new faces at Stratford Town". Stratford Herald. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  7. "Matija Sarkic: Livingston sign Aston Villa goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  8. 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.
  9. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 released lists". Premier League. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  10. "Wolves secure Sarkic transfer". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  11. Cox, Lewis (2 September 2020). "Shrewsbury Town sign Wolves goalkeeper Matija Sarkic on loan". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  12. "Portsmouth 0–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. PA Sport. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  13. "Matija Sarkic joins Blues on loan". Birmingham City F.C. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  14. Dick, Brian (7 August 2021). "Birmingham City begin with victory at Sheffield United after Colin wins it". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  15. Veronese, Andrea; Garin, Erik (2 August 2018). "Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament 2017". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  16. "Черногория назвала состав на Мемориал Лобановского" [Montenegro name team for Lobanovsky Memorial]. Dynamomania.com (in Ukrainian). 28 May 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  17. Vukotić, Danilo (6 September 2021). "Pobjeda za kraj godine" [Victory for the end of the year] (in Montenegrin). Football Association of Montenegro. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  18. "Matija Šarkić: Internationals". worldfootball.net. HeimSpiel Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  19. "Netherlands 4–0 Montenegro". BBC Sport. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  20. Pitt-Brooke, Jack (3 October 2017). "Meet the Sarkic twins: born in England, raised in Belgium but trying to make Montenegro history". The Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  21. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  22. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  23. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  24. "Matija Sarkic". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United FC and Luke Buckingham-Brown. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  25. Chilton, Andy (8 January 2019). "Blues through to the semi finals after penalty shoot out success over the Poppies". Stratford Town F.C. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  26. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  27. "Games played by Matija Sarkic in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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