A Serbian football expert has lifted the lid on expected Aberdeen signing Slobodan Rubezic – labelling him an “aggressive, brave, hard-tackling stopper”.
The Press and Journal revealed on Tuesday the Dons are close to sealing a deal to make the FK Novi Pazar centre-back (who has also played in defensive midfield) the latest arrival in Barry Robson’s summer rebuild.
Aberdeen are confident, after positive discussions with Serbian side, they will fight off interest from a host of European clubs and land the 23-year-old for a six-figure fee.
Kristijan Plazonja (a.k.a. @SerbFootyScout on Twitter) is a journalist and analyst who writes for Serbian sports site Mozzartsport, while also serving as an advisor and scouting Serb players – in Serbia and abroad – for clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie, Russian Premier League, Italian Serie A and elsewhere.
In defence, Plazonja described 6ft 4in Rubezic as not only physically imposing, but fleet of foot for his size and with a tendency to win most of his challenges on the ground and in the air, saying: “He’s tall, but has a slender build and decent pace for a big man.
“He’s an aggressive, brave hard-tackling stopper, regularly steps out to close down players – but can get caught out that way.”
Since news of Aberdeen’s interest in centre-back Rubezic broke, some fans who have dug up information on the player’s attributes have pointed to his passing numbers as a potential cause for concern.
While Plazonja admitted those stats perhaps reflect a weakness in Rubezic’s game, he added: “Rubezic is far from useless on the ball, can work his way out of tight situations and hit the occasional quality long ball.”
Plazonja also said the big defender would be a “weapon at set-pieces” for Aberdeen, with a “good leap, added to his already impressive height.”
‘Until this season, he was unknown to nearly all Serbian football fans’
In 2022/23, Rubezic became a mainstay of the Novi Pazar team in the Serbian SuperLiga, starting 35 times and captaining the side on two occasions.
Despite an earlier, productive loan spell at then-second tier Novi Pazar in 2019/20, last term represented a watershed campaign for Rubezic.
He had previously failed to break-through at a bigger top-flight club in FK Cukaricki and also struggled for game-time in a move to Bulgaria’s premier division with Arda Kardzhali.
Although Plazonja says there has been very little discussion in Serbia about Rubezic’s performances – due to a “fixation” with the Balkan nation’s tradition big-two Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) and Partizan Belgrade, and a few other clubs – he feels the centre-back’s stock has risen.
Plazonja added: “I can safely say, until this season, he was unknown to nearly all Serbian football fans.
“This season, though, he was a key player in what was Novi Pazar’s second-highest league in their entire history.”
Novi Pazar finished sixth last term, behind Crvena Zvezda, TSC, Cukaricki, Partizan and Vojvodina (another of Rubezic former sides at youth level) – an achievement Plazonja thinks “is as good as it can get for them”, with five sides above Novi Pazar who are “objectively ahead in most departments”.
Scottish football would be ‘step-up’ for defender Rubezic, whose ‘reasonable’ valuation is rated around 250,000 euros
Rubezic’s break-out campaign and Novi Pazar’s strong Serbian top-flight showing came in spite of several managerial changes at the club throughout the campaign.
Plazonja described them as “probably the most unstable club in Serbia” due to “unrealistic expectations” and “knee-jerk reactions” from a board overseeing a club where the fans have “a lot of influence”.
Despite Rubezic’s strong season competing at the sharp-end of Serbian football, Plazonja thinks a rare move from the SuperLiga to the Scottish Premiership with Aberdeen would “definitely be a step up” for him.
He says the Serbian media have “labelled it ‘possibly the biggest ever outgoing transfer for Novi Pazar’.”
Dons fans researching the player online have also noted football site Transfermarkt’s 2 million euro valuation of Rubezic, leaving them to ponder the six-figure fee Pittodrie chiefs are expected to part with for the stopper.
However, Plazonja thinks around 250,000 euros would be a more accurate valuation for Rubezic, saying: “Some of the bigger talents in the country, U21 internationals like Stefan Mitrović (500,000 euros) and Uros Kabic (800,000 euros) have cost a lot less.
“He’s had a good season, but the club record stands at 120,000 euros.
“I think double that amount would be very reasonable in this case.”