clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Introducing.. Dušan Tadić

Another one to take the leap from Holland to St. Mary's, let's have a closer look at our Serbian midfielder.

Julian Finney

It's quite common in football to see a new manager signing players from his former team, or signing players with whom he shared the same nationalities or from the league where he used to coach. Arsene Wenger did it in Arsenal, signing players from his native France, or French players during his 18 years in North London. Jose Mourinho signed several players from his former side, Porto, when he moved to Chelsea in his first spell at Stamford Bridge. While former Swansea manager, Michael Laudrup, signed several Spanish players from La Liga after stints at Getafe and Real Mallorca. Therefore it's only natural when Ronald Koeman went back to his native, Holland, to add reinforcement to the squad. When club captain Adam Lallana made the move to Anfield, Koeman opted to sign Serbian international, Dušan Tadić.

Tadić may not be a household name for English football fans (yet), however he has shown steady improvements since making the move from Serbia to Holland back in 2010. He started his youth career with Vojvodina in Serbia, and made his first team debut back in 2006 when he was just 18. Despite his young age, he appeared in 28 games during the 2006/07 season and went on to make more than 100 appearances until his move to Holland in 2010. His first club in Holland was Groningen, and he made quite an impact in his first season at the Euroborg, topping the assist chart with 17 assists. That season, Groningen nearly qualified for Europe but was foiled by ADO Den Haag in the playoffs. The following season Tadić's assist numbers fell to 11, and Groningen also dropped to 14th place in the table. At the end of the season, he joined FC Twente.

In his first season with Twente, Tadić helped his new side reach the group stage of the Europa League, however once they're there, they could not win a single game and finished bottom of the group. In Eredivisie, Tadić displayed a keen eye in front of goal, scoring 12 goals (he was also deadly from the penalty spots, with five of those coming from the spot) and provided 14 assists. His final season in Holland was his most impressive, both on personal and team level. He helped his side finished third at the end of the season, thanks to his 16 goals and 14 assists, topping both categories for his club. It's no surprise that Southampton shelled out more than £12m for his signature.

So far, Tadić has shown a keen eye for setting up his teammates with three assists under his name in the league. He also scored the equalizer in Saints' 2-1 win over Arsenal at The Capital One Cup. Should he finished the season with double digits in goals and assists, surely that will be £12m well spent.