Profile: Alen Stevanovic | Jamshedpur FC's 'Dream Peddler'

Alen Stevanovic is a former student of Jose Mourinho.

Jamshedpur FC have roped in experienced Serbian midfielder Alen Stevanovic ahead of the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL). The Men of Steel had a unique way of teasing the signing, with former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic hyping it up with a personalized message for the fans.

In Stevanovic, Jamshedpur are getting a versatile midfielder with a lot of experience behind him. He’s played in the Serie A as well as the UEFA Europa League in his career that has spanned over 15 years. The former ISL champions will be hopeful that Stevanovic proves to be their missing spark in midfield and can light up the ISL next season.

The 32-year-old definitely has the qualities to do so and could use his unpredictable style to trouble ISL sides. Here, we look at what can be expected from Jamshedpur’s latest foreign acquisition.

Prior Experience

Stevanovic spent his youth career at Serbian club FK Radnicki Obrenovic before aiming for the big names in 2009, when he gave a trial at Inter Milan. Fortunately for him, the then-Jose Mourinho-managed club accepted him and Mourinho even promoted him to train with the first team in the 2009/10 season.

He made his senior debut for the Nerazzurri in a Serie A match against Siena, coming on as a substitute for Thiago Motta in the 67th minute. Even though he wasn’t part of their treble-winning squad, Stevanovic actually played for the Inter team that won it all under Mourinho that year.

After learning a lot of trades from the Portuguese mastermind, Stevanovic moved to the then Serie B side Torino in 2010. This allowed Inter to sign Italian centre-back Simone Benedetti as well. The Serbian winger spent a few seasons at Torino, making 63 appearances for them – in which he scored five goals and provided seven assists.

That included 15 appearances in the Serie A after Torino got promoted to the top division in 2012.  He was loaned out to Italian clubs Palermo, Bari and Spezia during the course of his time at Torino – before moving back home to Partizan Belgrade in 2015.

Stevanovic made 47 appearances for Partizan, including three in the Europa League. He joined J1 League side Shonan Bellmare in 2018 for a short spell and had short stints at Polish side Wisla Plock, Bulgarian side Tsarsko Selo and Serbian side IMT before his move to Jamshedpur. The 32-year-old has earned three Serbia national team caps in his career as well.

Type of Player

The 32-year-old is an explosive winger who employs an unpredictable and proactive playing style to keep defenders on their toes. He loves to play one-two passes with his teammates and rely on a few touches before darting into the empty space in the wide areas.

While he’s not at his fastest at this age, Stevanovic is still very skillful on the ball and possesses the IQ to make clever off-the-ball runs to keep defenders guessing. He’s also a menace on the ball, thriving on making clever varied runs through the wings. He loves to cut into central areas from the left wing and open things up, giving himself space for shots or crosses into the box.

The Serbian winger is quite versatile as well. Apart from his natural left-wing role, he can play on the right wing and even as an attacking midfielder if needed. He is at his most comfortable in the wide areas where he can trouble defenders with his movement and gets more empty space to work with.

The 32-year-old is innovative with his passes and knows when to time the crosses or defence-splitting passes to perfection. His crosses can also be tormenting and a big asset heading into the ISL.

What will he bring to the team?

Last season in the ISL, Jamshedpur FC only scored 21 goals – with only NorthEast United scoring fewer. A major reason for that was a lack of genuine creativity in the final third. The Men of Steel possessed some clinical finishers and impressive ball progressors. However, they missed that special someone to break open the opposition's backline or deliver accurate balls into the box.

Fortunately, they have roped in Stevanovic to fix that issue. The 32-year-old should definitely improve the creative depth in the team and help create more genuine scoring chances. He excels at sending in quality crosses into the box and picked up eight assists in 21 league games for IMT last season thanks to that.

The 32-year-old also loves to be innovative with his movement in the final third too. He can dribble past bodies at ease and also pick out perfectly-timed passes from deep. That should help amplify the unpredictability in Jamshedpur’s attack and bring more variety to their build-up play. Stevanovic also has a wicked shooting ability in him, meaning he can score some belters from long-distance and help trouble deep defensive lines with that.

The Serbian winger has tons of experience in his arsenal, which he can utilize to act as a leader at Jamshedpur. The Men of Steel have some quality youngsters who can learn a lot of things from Stevanovic, especially how to improve in the final third. The 32-year-old can also bring aggressiveness to his game whenever needed, and that can build the character of the team.

Stevanovic, at least on paper, seems like a very exciting signing for Jamshedpur. He’s a highly experienced winger who is still going strong and coming off a solid season in Europe. The 32-year-old will be tasked to improve Jamshedpur’s attacking power and help raise the performance levels of the other forwards with his innovative style.