The 2023–24 Red Star Belgrade season was the club's 18th in the Serbian SuperLiga and 78th consecutive season in topflight of Yugoslav and Serbian football. The club participated in the Serbian SuperLiga, Serbian Cup and UEFA Champions League. The club won a domestic double, securing a record 10th league title since the secession of Montenegro from Serbia in 2006, and a joint-record seventh cup trophy.
Summary
Pre-season
The first signings for this season were free transfers of Nigerian international winger Peter Olayinka on 9 January[1] and New Zealand international midfielder Marko Stamenić on 6 February.[2] Olayinka spent last five seasons with the Czech powerhouse Slavia Prague and joined the club on a three-year-long contract with an option for a fourth year. And Stamenic, who spent last three seasons with the Danish side Copenhagen, will be joining the club on a four-year-long contract.
On 19 May the club announced that the head coach for this season will be Israeli manager and former footballer Barak Bakhar. Previously he managed Israeli club Maccabi Haifa with whom he won last three Israeli Premier League titles and qualified for 2022–23 UEFA Champions League by eliminating Red Star in play-off round. Bakhar signed a three-year-long contract with the club.[3]
On 13 June Serbian defender Radovan Pankov left the club after four seasons. He joined Polish powerhouse Legia Warsaw on a 3-year contract.
On 16 June two more players left the club. Serbian midfielder and product of club's youth academy Veljko Nikolić left the club to join Cypriot champions Aris Limassol. Nikolić was member of the first team for four seasons, during which he won four SuperLiga and three Serbian cup titles. In total he had 82 appearances and scored 10 goals.[4] Second player to leave was Serbian forward Aleksandar Pešić who moved to the Hungarian powerhouse Ferencvárosi. This ended his second spell at the club, for which he won two Serbian SuperLiga and one Serbian cup in total while appearing in 91 matches and scoring 45 goals.[5]
On 19 June the club announced that they will be returning Serbian midfielder Jovan Šljivić from a loan. He also signed a new three-year-long contract with the club. Šljivić, who is a product of club's youth system, spent last season playing at Grafičar.[6]
On 20 June the club announced the transfer of Ivorian international forward Jean-Philippe Krasso on a free transfer from the French side Saint-Étienne. Krasso signed four-year-long contract with the club.[7]
On 21 June the club announced the transfer of Ghanaian international midfielder Edmund Addo on a free transfer from the Serbian side Spartak Subotica. Addo signed four-year-long contract with the club.[8]
On 22 June the club announced the transfer of Israeli international goalkeeper Omri Glazer for an estimated transfer fee of €1,200,000. Glazer arrived from the Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva where he won goalkeeper of the season in the Israeli Premier League for two consecutive years. He signed three-year-long contract with the club with the one-year extension option.[9]
On 4 July Canadian international goalkeeper Milan Borjan left the club after being first goalkeeper for the previous six seasons. In that time he won six consecutive Serbian SuperLiga's and three Serbian Cups making him one of the most decorated players in club history and placing him on the ninth player on the all-time appearances list. Borjan left on the one-year-long loan to the Slovak champions Slovan Bratislava.[10]
On 23 July Serbian international defender and product of club's youth academy Strahinja Eraković left the club after three seasons in which he had 103 caps for the club and won 3 Serbian SuperLiga and 3 Serbian Cup titles. He joined Russian side Zenit on a four-year-long contract for an estimated transfer fee of €8,000,000.[11] On the same day the club announced signing of a Serbian winger Uroš Kabić on a four-year-long contract. He arrived at the club from Serbian side Vojvodina for an estimated fee of €800,000.[12]
On 24 July Australian international defender Miloš Degenek returned to the club for his third spell. He arrived from US side Columbus Crew for an estimated fee of €500,000 and signed two-year-long contract with the club with an option for one year extension.[13]
On 28 July Serbian midfielder Nikola Knežević, who is the product of the club's youth academy, was promoted to the first squad after being loaned to Grafičar and Napredak during the last two seasons. He also signed a new four-year-long contract until summer of 2027.[14]
August
In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star played five matches, winning the first four and losing the fifth one against Voždovac. That defeat ended their record breaking undefeated run in Serbian SuperLiga of 65 games since October 2021. At the end of the month Red Star was second placed team in the league, with one point behind TSC.
By winning previous season Serbian SuperLiga the club qualified for the group stage of 2023–24 UEFA Champions League. This will be the fourth time in the club's history that they will play in the Champions League group stage. On the draw that was held on 31 August the club was drawn into Group G together with current Champions League winners and English champions Manchester City with whom they will play for the first time, German DFB-Pokal winners RB Leipzig with whom they will also play for the first time and Swiss champions Young Boys with whom they played two times before.[15]
On 22 August Serbian veteran midfielder Slavoljub Srnić on a free transfer and joined Cypriot side AEL Limassol. This ended his third spell at the club for which he played 208 games in total, scored 22 goals, won 6 Serbian SuperLiga titles and 3 Serbian Cup titles.[16]
Also on 22 August Georgian international defender Irakli Azarovi left the after just one season in order to join Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk for an estimated fee of around €3,000,000. During his stay at the club he played 26 games and won Serbian SuperLiga and Serbian Cup.[17]
On 23 August Serbian defender and product of the club's youth academy Andrej Đurić returned to the club after two seasons playing for the Slovenian side Domžale. He signed four-year-long contract with an option for one year extension.[18]
September
In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star played three games, with two more games being postponed including first eternal derby of this season. Two of those games ended with a win and one with the defeat. At the end of the month the club dropped to third place on the table, four points behind TSC and Partizan.
The club also started their Champions League run with an away game defeat against reigning European champions Manchester City.
On 1 September Serbian defender and product of the club's youth academy Stefan Leković joined Spanish side Villarreal on a season long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.[19]
On 4 September Burkinabé international defender Nasser Djiga arrived at the club on a year long loan from Swiss side Basel with a buy out option.[20]
On 12 September Serbian defender Marko Gobeljić left the club after six seasons during which he gathered 183 caps, scored 11 goals and won 6 Serbian SuperLiga and 3 Serbian Cup titles. He joined Greek side Kifisia on a free transfer.[21]
On 14 September Korean international midfielder Hwang In-beom arrived at the club for a record breaking transfer of an estimated €5,500,000 from Greek side Olympiacos and signed four-years-long contract with the club.[22]
On 15 September Senegalese forward Cherif Ndiaye joined the club from Turkish side Adana Demirspor and signed three-years-long deal with an option for the fourth year.[23]
October
In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star won all three games they played, witch brought them back to the second place on the table, seven points behind leading Partizan.
In Champions League the club played two games, a draw against Young Boys at home and a loss against RB Leipzig in an away game. This tied them with the Young Boys at the third place with one point each.
Draw for the first round of Serbian Cup was held on 11 October. Red Star were drawn to play an away game against Trayal.[24] The game was originally scheduled to be played on 1 November, but it was rescheduled to 18 October.[25] Red Star won the game 6–0 and qualified for the Round of 16.
November
In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star won all three games they played, witch kept them at the second place on the table, three points behind leading Partizan.
In Champions League the club lost both games it played, against RB Leipzig at home and Young Boys in an away game. This secured them last place in the group with one game remaining.
Draw for the Round of 16 of the Serbian Cup was held on 7 November and Red Star were drawn to play a home game against Radnički Niš. Game is scheduled to be played on 6 December[26]
December
In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star ended first half of the championship with three wins and a 1–2 defeat against Partizan in the Eternal derby. This kept them at the second place on the table, one behind leading Partizan.
In Champions League the club lost its last game of the season against Manchester City at home, ending their run at the last place of the group.
Red Star played second round of Serbian Cup against Radnički Niš and won 5–0. On 25 December quarter-finals draw took place on which Red Star was drawn against OFK Vršac in a home game that will be played on 4 April 2024.[27]
On 17 December the club signed new contract with young fullback Kosta Nedeljković until the summer of 2027.[28]
On 20 December, after the loss in the Eternal derby, Israeli coach Barak Bakhar was sacked after just six months.[29] His replacemet was announced two days later, on 22 December - Serbian coach Vladan Milojević. This will be Milojević's second spell at the club, after previously being Red Star's manager for two seasons between 2017 and 2019. In his first tenure he won two Serbian SuperLiga titles. Milojević joined the club on a 2+1⁄2-year contract.
January
The club will organize mid-season training camp between 15 January and 2 February in Paphos on Cyprus during which they will play five friendly games.[30]
Five of the club's players received call-ups to their national team squads for the continental championships that will be played at the start of this year. Nasser Djiga, Kings Kangwa, Osman Bukari and Jean-Philippe Krasso will play at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations while Hwang In-beom will play at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[31] Kangwa represented Zambia in all three group stage matches, scored one goal and was eliminated after ending on the third place of the group. Bukari represented Ghana in two games and was also eliminated in the group stage. Djiga played in one game for Burkina Faso and was eliminated in round of 16.
At the start of the year Argentine right-back Alex Vigo returned to River Plate after his loan at the club expired and Red Star decided not to activate his buy-out option. He was at the club for a year, during which he gathered 16 caps and scored 3 goals.
On 10 January club announced that they will be returning Serbian defender Viktor Radojević back from the loan at Grafičar. He is the product of the club's youth academy and this will be his first time playing for the first squad.[32]
On 14 January Serbian backup goalkeeper Nikola Vasiljević left the club after 4+1⁄2 years, most of which he spent on multiple loans. He joined Serbian side Radnički Niš on a free transfer.[33]
On 22 January Serbian defender Kosta Nedeljković signed the contract with English side Aston Villa for an estimated fee of €9,000,000. He will remain part of the Red Star until the end of current season.[34]
On 31 January Ghanaian midfielder Edmund Addo left the club in order to join Serbian side Radnički Niš on a six-months loan. Addo arrived at the club at the start of this season and failed to make a debut for the first team.[35]
February
Serbian SuperLiga was resumed during February. Club played three games, and won all three of them. This kept them at the second place on the table, one point behind leading Partizan.
On 1 February Serbian winger Stefan Mitrović left the club in order to join the Italian side Hellas Verona for an estimated fee of €1,300,000. He spent season and a half at the club, winning the Double in the previous season.[36]
On the same day two more players left the club on a loan until the end of the season. Zambian international midfielder Kings Kangwa was loaned to Belgian side Kortrijk for an estimated loan fee of €500,000 and the buy-out price of €1,000,000 at the end of the season. Kangwa was part of the club for season and a half, winning the Double in the previous season.[37] Serbian midfielder Uroš Kabić was loaned to Italian side Torino with an agreed buy-out price of €2,000,000 at the end of the season. He joined the club at the start of this season.[38]
On 2 February Serbian forward Uroš Sremčević joined the club on a three-years-long contract. He arrived from Mladost Lučani for the record breaking transfer between two Serbian clubs of an estimated €2,000,000.[39]
On 19 February Serbian forward Jovan Mijatović left the club in order to join US side New York City FC for the undisclosed transfer fee estimated to be around €8,000,000.[40]
Players
Players and squad numbers last updated on 13 March 2024. Appearances include league matches only.[41] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: SuperLiga imposes a requirement on under-21 players (marked as U21) and foreign players (marked as FGN). There must be at least one U21 and no more than four FGN players on the pitch at any time.
Note: Game was originally scheduled on 27 September, but was postponed due to mourning day and security concerns after Banjska attack on 24 September.[53]
Note: Match was originally finished with Red Star's 3–4 victory, but was registered with official result 0–3 due to the administrative mistake made by Radnički 1923.[55]
