‘Hey, kid, who are you? You’re really good’

If you asked Red Star Belgrade’s management what the rarest items in the world are, they might mention four-leaf clovers, pearls from the bottom of the ocean, diamonds… and right-backs.

For years, the Serbian champions have been having problems in finding any optimal solution for that position. In the end, and as often happens, the person was right in front of their nose – in the form of 18-year-old Kosta Nedeljkovic from the club’s academy.

Before the start of 2023-24 season, after six months at Graficar – Red Star’s development side in the Serbian second tier, Nedeljkovic became part of the first-team squad.

The media was very soon describing him as “the most talented Serbian right-back”, mostly because of his endurance and speed.

In one game, Nedeljkovic clocked a speed of 36.4km/h, which is in the range of some world-class players like Kylian Mbappe – though crossing is still something he needs to work on.

Last season, Nedeljkovic and Red Star played in the Champions League against RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Manchester City, where he made a good impression.

“[Manuel] Akanji was the first one who approached me after the match and joked something along the lines of: ‘Hey, kid, who are you? You’re really good,'” said Nedeljkovic afterwards.

And that is why, after only 12 matches in red and white – despite club officials saying he would be staying in Belgrade – the defender joined Aston Villa for 9m euros (7.6m), one of the biggest transfers in Red Star’s history.

Nedeljkovic described meeting Villa boss Unai Emery and fellow right-back Matty Cash as a very tense experience – “like when you have a maths test and you didn’t prepare well” – perhaps a reminder of how young he still is.

The teenager spent the rest of the last campaign with Red Star, winning the Serbian league and cup double.

He ended up missing much of it with an injury and that is probably the reason he is yet to be called up to the senior Serbia squad.

Watch this space!