Comparing Sergej Milinković-Savić to Zinedine Zidane? What?! That’s crazy, pipe down!
In a world where even your most casual football fan has to have a (strong) opinion on every player that gets mentioned, a take like mine is bound to stir up some controversy. Now, it’s not one I came up with overnight. I’ve thought this for some years now, but to actually say it out loud, online, where it stays forever..was a bridge too far, until now.
With Sergej’s amazing start to the season and the key role he’s played in the recent success of the Serbian national team, I’ve summoned the courage to bring this topic to the (digital) table and assess just how far off he is from the legendary Frenchman with Algerian roots. Let’s see if we can turn around some of those Red Cafe posters who think he should be lucky to be a rotational player at West Ham United.
Even Zizou wasn’t always famous
When people think of Zinedine Zidane, they think of his performance(s) against Brazil, the volley against Leverkusen or how he flattened Marco Materazzi with that famous headbutt. But not many know — or are old enough to remember — that until his 24th birthday, he was relatively unknown in the world of football.
To give you an example: an agent from that era — Barry Silkman — even claims that Zidane was offered to Newcastle United in 1995 for just over 1.3 million euros, and was deemed not good enough.
However, that 1995–1996 season would forever change the course of his career. That Bordeaux side wasn’t just blessed with Zidane, but also had Christophe Dugarry and Bixente Lizarazu among others, and went on an incredible run in the UEFA Cup, all the way to the final, where they were beaten by Bayern Munich.
Incredible, because in the league, they finished just above the relegation zone. Zizou contributed with 12 goals and 9 assists in 51 matches total.
That season, he earned himself a transfer to Juventus. A side that had just beaten Louis van Gaal’s Ajax on penalties to win the Champions League. That season he also went from a fringe player with just 165 minutes of playing time for the national team, to a regular starter under Aimé Jacquet. I don’t have to tell you that just two years later, he played a key role in the French World Cup win.
My point with this mini-biography? That even a great like Zinedine wasn’t always on everyone’s radar, just like Sergej isn’t now. It doesn’t mean that Zidane wasn’t a great player before he joined Juve or had success with the French national team. It was just his journey through the wonderful world of football. And thank God they’re not all the same.
Football artists
Now, when the comparison first came to mind, it had more to do with the two players stylistically, than with their career paths or even statistics.
Those who frequently watch Sergej play, will know that he exudes a certain elegance, much like Zizou did. It’s not for show either. The flair he adds to his game — 8 out of 10 times — is functional. It’s the little things that do it for me: the way they both glide over the pitch gracefully, the unexpected solutions they often seem to find, the nonchalance with which they seem to play so well, but most of all their nearly flawless technical ability.
Now, I do realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some may not see it the way I do, and that’s fine. So let’s move on to the statistical comparison.
The stats might surprise you
As I alluded to earlier, Sergej’s start to the season has been nothing short of amazing. Particularly his goal contributions in the Serie A stand out.
Anyone can have a good run though, am I right? So let’s see how he’s ranked compared to all midfielders from the top 5 leagues in Europe over the last year.
Not too shabby, is it? And neither are some of the player comparisons.
99th percentile in both non-penalty goals and assists. Making him a double threat. Confirmed by his non-penalty expected goals and expected assists, ranking him in the 98th percentile.
But also note his progressive passes received — 97th percentile — and touches in penalty area — 98th percentile — highlighting his quality movement, even high up the pitch. And last but not least, there are his completed dribbles and aerials won, which are distinctly impressive as well. Remind you of someone?
Longevity matters
Even those that don’t watch Serie A often, or don’t care about a side like Lazio, will have seen his name popping up on their Twitter or news feeds more frequently. But being one of the best in the world means doing it over a longer period of time. So let’s look at how Sergej’s career so far compares to that of Zidane.
Playing the numbers game
Let me start off by saying there’s much more to football than just goals and assists. In this generation of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and now Haaland, people are more than ever fixated on the numbers. But true value goes deeper than meets the eye. N’Golo Kanté is a great example, and just one of many.
Having said that, I’m now going to compare the two based off of numbers anyway. ;)
According to Transfermarkt, Zinedine Zidane has 125 goals and 138 assists in 689 club appearances, while Sergej has 71 goals and 61 assists in 346 matches. To get the most accurate reading, I looked at their total minutes played — 55.124 versus 26.660 — and calculated their per 90 stats.
Now, that’s quite close, wouldn’t you say? Sergej with the slight edge in goals, while Zizou returns the favour when it comes to assists.
The next thing I did was look at their goal and assist tallies per season, to see the impact they had over a longer period of time, with 5+ or even double digits in one or both collumns. For this I looked at their league campaigns, as the number of matches per season offered the fairest comparison.
Keep in mind that Zidane retired at the age of 34, giving Sergej 7 more years to beat the remaining 3 records. And when you consider that he’s only just entered his prime — at the age of 27 — and has been improving his output consistently over the last 4 seasons, chances are he’ll at least match Zizou in most categories, if not beat him outright.
At the end of the day football is about trophies
Stats are nice, but when all is said and done, people remember trophies. Often, even those who finish second don’t live on in the minds and hearts of neutrals, and let’s be honest, Zinedine Zidane was undoubtedly a winner.
Nonetheless, despite having had a brilliant club career, he’s won only 3 major league titles during it. Two with Juventus and one with Real Madrid. And on top of that only has one Champions League title to boast with.
His greatest achievements were indeed tied to the French national team. Two World Cup finals, winning one of them — for the first time in the history of French football. And of course that European Championship title in 2000.
Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the chances of Sergej matching that are minimal, even with the strongest Serbian team in decades. Could there be a deep run some time soon? Perhaps, but that’s all just speculation for now. What many don’t know about Sergej, however, is that he too was a European and World Champion in football, and I’ll tell you when.
In 2013, Sergej was one of the main players — alongside Aleksandar Mitrović — in Serbia’s U19 Euro title winning squad — ironically beating France in the final (1–0). That French side featured players like Anthony Martial, Aymeric Laporte, Adrien Rabiot and Benjamin Mendy.
Just two years after that, he played an even bigger part in Serbia’s U20 World Cup win, in which they beat Brazil (2–1 AET) in the final.
Whereas he played a supporting role as part of the double pivot in 2013, two years later he was one of the main creative forces in Serbia’s side and played as a number 10 — even if he wore number 20. His impressive performances earned him the Bronze Ball.
With a beautiful free-kick goal against Mali and an assist against Mexico, he added the goal contributions that would later become a regular occurrence.
So far he hasn’t been able to reproduce those runs with the senior national team, but with plenty of his title winning teammates in key roles and a coach who truly believes in him, the future looks bright — wherever it may lead to.
Despite the positives, the current Serbian national team of course can not be compared to that legendary French generation — which had the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Lilliam Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and more.
His club career hasn’t been blessed with many trophies either, but then again, would Zizou’s have been, had he stayed with Bordeaux? Sergej did win the Serbian Cup with his childhood team Vojvodina Novi Sad — the first cup win in their 100 years of existence at that point in time. He also won the Italian Cup with Lazio once.
The question of course is whether he’d have won more trophies if he had moved on. We’ll never know.
Multifunctional team players
One of the things I admired most about Zizou is that although he was a fantastic individual, he always played in service of his team. Thankfully, Sergej is no different in that regard.
Whereas he operates as a number 8 with shades of a number 10 for his club, for Serbia he’s been asked to play a more timid — however certainly not less important — role as something akin to a regista.
With veteran playmaker Dušan Tadić playing higher up the pitch and two potent strikers in Dušan Vlahović and Aleksandar Mitrović, there is a need for balance in the side and Sergej is one of the players to bring it.
Just like at the start of his career, he’s part of the double pivot. A role that requires discipline, particularly defensively. But it also limits him in one of his main strengths — off the ball movement in the final third — and is not nearly as glamorous as being part of a front three and yet, Sergej doesn’t seem to mind.
He’s happy to dictate play from deeper areas and be the creative heartbeat of the side. With him, you get the feeling he feels blessed to be playing football at all — much like Ronaldinho, who always had that iconic smile on his face.
And if you’re wondering what those performances look like in real life, below are his impressive highlights from Serbia’s recent 4–1 win over Sweden.
So if that’s all true, then why isn’t he at a big club?
Let me start by saying that there is not one clear-cut reason, but there are some underlying ones that certainly played a role.
For one, Lazio’s chairman — Claudio Lotito. The infamous entrepreneur and politician. You might remember reading his comments on how Sergej should at least cost 100 million euros, scaring teams away. There have been many of them throughout the years and even one just the other day, when Lotito claimed Sergej’s current price is 120 million and rising with each passing month. Not exactly an easy man to negotiate with.
Then there’s the fact that Sergej genuinely loves Lazio, its fans and his life in Rome. And let’s be honest, there are worse cities to live in on this planet.
Finally, he doesn’t seem to be eager to leave Lazio for just any club. In fact, you get the feeling he’d rather not leave Italy at all. Maybe it’s a lack of ambition, maybe he thinks he’d suffer from homesickness if he left. Whatever the true reason is, we’ll probably find out when he retires.
So can he be compared, or not?
If you’ve made it this far, kudos to you. For those who think I underrate Zinedine Zidane, I can assure you, I don’t. For me, he’s one of the greats in the history of football. As I’ve said before, my favourite non-Serbian player. If anything, I’m afraid that in this age of statistics, his importance and impact will be (massively) understated, once those who watched him in his prime start to dwindle.
Now onto the moment suprême — the comparison. I think I’ve proven that there is ground for it statistically. Style of play remains a matter of personal taste, so I can’t judge for you, but you know what my answer is. However, what makes Zizou, Zizou, are those big performances with everything at stake and the entire world watching. Nights Sergej has had a few of, but not enough to be considered a legitimate successor to the maestro from Marseille.
Nevertheless, just to be in the discussion is the biggest possible compliment I could give Sergej — who definitely is a world-class player in today’s game, despite the stature of his club. In fact, he offers a throwback to the 90’s, when talent was spread out across Europe and South America, instead of concentrated, like it is today.
As for Sergej’s legacy. Could it have been greater already? Perhaps. Is there still time for him to get the credit he deserves? No doubt. The World Cup in just over a month from now will offer such a stage. There’s no guarantee Serbia will continue its great performances in Qatar, but one thing is certain, Sergej will be one of the main men to watch out for in Serbia’s side, as they look to progress.
And if you’re not that familiar with him yet, or judge him based off of non-pitch related matters, you might want to tune in and see what he’s really about.
