Football: All Whites midfielder Marko Stamenic to join former Champions League winners Red Star Belgrade next season from FC Copenhagen

All Whites midfielder Marko Stamenic. Photo / Photosport

All Whites midfielder Marko Stamenic will join defending Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade from next season.

Stamenic, 20, whose contract with FC Copenhagen expires at the end of this season after he rejected a new deal with the Danish Superliga club, has signed a four-year deal with the Serbian giants and will join the club at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season.

Red Star announced the deal on social media on Tuesday, labelling Stamenic “Lord of the Midfield” alongside a photo of the young Kiwi midfielder reaching out for a ring, a reference to the Lord of the Rings trilogy filmed in New Zealand.

Lord of the Midfield™

Young midfielder Marko Stamenić is set to join Crvena zvezda. The New Zealand-born starlet, class of 2022, will arrive on a four-year deal in the summer from FC Copenhagen. 🇷🇸🇳🇿 #fkcz pic.twitter.com/9e1YCp5RU3

— FK Crvena zvezda in English (@crvenazvezda_en) February 6, 2023

Stamenic, whose father is Serbian, is one of New Zealand’s brightest talents and featured heavily in the All Whites’ World Cup qualification campaign last year.

He joined FC Copenhagen in 2020 after impressing for New Zealand at the Under-17 World Cup, and spent time on loan with second-tier club HB Koge last season.

He made his Champions League debut last year for Copenhagen, playing against European powerhouses Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, and established himself as a regular starter at the club this year.

Marko Stamenic of FC Copenhagen in action against Manchester City last year. Photo / Getty

Red Star were one of several clubs chasing Stamenic’s signature after Copenhagen announced last month that an agreement wasn’t able to be reached on a new deal to keep him at the club.

“We think Marko has developed well here, but we have to deal with the fact that he does not want to extend his contract,” Copenhagen sporting director Peter Christiansen said in January.

Red Star are currently eight points clear at the top of the Serbian SuperLiga ahead of rivals Partisan and can guarantee a spot in next season’s Champions League with a record 34th league title this year.

Red Star are one of only 22 clubs to have won the Champions League after their victory in 1991.