Nemanja Gudelj

Nemanja Gudelj (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Гудељ; born 16 November 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for La Liga side Sevilla and the Serbia national team.

Nemanja Gudelj

Gudelj with Ajax in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Nemanja Gudelj[1]
Date of birth	(1991-11-16) 16 November 1991 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder, centre-back
Team information
Current team	Sevilla
Number	6
Youth career
1998–2001	BSV Boeimeer
2001–2010	NAC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2013	NAC	79	(8)
2013–2015	AZ	61	(16)
2015–2017	Ajax	40	(6)
2017	Tianjin Teda	19	(1)
2018–2019	Guangzhou Evergrande	11	(2)
2018–2019	→ Sporting CP (loan)	27	(1)
2019–	Sevilla	162	(5)
International career‡
2010–2012	Serbia U21	15	(2)
2014–	Serbia	70	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:56, 25 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 June 2025

Club career

NAC Breda

Gudelj signed his first professional contract with NAC Breda in July 2009 but failed to make an official appearance in his debut season despite being named on the bench several times.^[2]

AZ

Gudelj playing for AZ in 2014

In the summer of 2013 Gudelj transferred to AZ Alkmaar for a fee of around €3 million, sold by his father who was manager at NAC, signing a four-year contract.^[3]

He received interest from Portuguese club Porto.^[4]

Ajax

On 6 May 2015, it was announced that Gudelj would join AFC Ajax starting from the 2015–16 season. Along with him, his younger brother Dragiša would move to Ajax youth team and his father Nebojša would become a scout for the club focusing primarily on scouting players from the Balkans and Serbia.^[5] On 5 November 2016, Gudelj was removed from the first team selection after stating he couldn't be motivated when not starting.^[6]

Tianjin TEDA

On 5 January 2017, Ajax announced Gudelj would transfer to Tianjin TEDA on 25 January 2017 for a sum rumoured to be around €5.5 million.^[7]

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao

On 28 January 2018, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao announced that Gudelj was transferred from Tianjin TEDA and signed a 2-year contract. The transfer fee was not announced.^[8] He made his debut for Guangzhou on 21 February 2018 in a 0–0 away draw against Cerezo Osaka in the second group stage match of 2018 AFC Champions League.^[9] On 14 March, he scored his first goal for the club in the fourth group stage match of the AFC Champions League against Jeju United, which ensured Guangzhou Evergrande's 2–0 away win.^[10] Gudelj was excluded from first team squad in July 2018 due to the limitation of the number of foreign players.^[11]

Sporting CP (loan)

On 23 August 2018, Gudelj was loaned to Primeira Liga side Sporting CP for the 2018–19 season. The contract at will extend for four years as a Sporting CP player. The actual loan contract expires in the end of the season so he would move as a free player .^[12]

Sevilla

Gudelj playing for Sevilla in 2020

On 23 July 2019, Gudelj signed with Spanish side Sevilla FC.^[13] In July 2020 he tested positive for COVID-19.^[14]

International career

Having represented Serbia at the U19 and U21 levels, Gudelj debuted for the senior squad on 5 March 2014 in a 2–1 away victory against the Republic of Ireland in a friendly match after coming on as a last minute substitute for Antonio Rukavina.^[15] He scored his first goal the same year on 18 November in a 2–0 away friendly victory against Greece.^[16]

In November 2022, Gudelj was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[17] He played in group stage matches against Brazil^[18] and Switzerland.^[19] Serbia finished fourth in the group.^[20]

Gudelj was part of the Serbia squad for UEFA Euro 2024 and started the team's opening match of the tournament against England, playing the first half of the 1–0 loss before being replaced by Ivan Ilić.^[21] He also played in a group stage match against Denmark, where Serbia finished fourth in the group.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Gudelj is the son of former player Nebojša Gudelj and the older brother of Dragiša Gudelj.

In August 2023, Gudelj married his girlfriend Anastasija Ražnatović, the daughter of Ceca and Arkan, in a secret ceremony at Rajinovac.^[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 May 2025^[23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
NAC Breda	2009–10	Eredivisie	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	2010–11		29	2	4	0	—		—		—		33	2
	2011–12		16	1	1	0	—		—		—		17	1
	2012–13		34	5	3	0	—		—		—		37	5
	Total		79	8	8	0	—		0	0	—		87	8
AZ	2013–14	Eredivisie	29	5	5	0	—		14[c]	1	5[d]	1	53	7
	2014–15		32	11	4	1	—		—		—		36	12
	Total		61	16	9	1	—		14	1	5	1	89	19
Ajax	2015–16	Eredivisie	34	4	2	0	—		10[e]	1	—		46	5
	2016–17		6	2	0	0	—		7[f]	0	—		13	2
	Total		40	6	2	0	—		17	1	—		59	7
Tianjin TEDA	2017	Chinese Super League	19	1	1	0	—		—		—		20	1
Guangzhou Evergrande	2018	Chinese Super League	11	2	0	0	—		6[g]	1	1[h]	0	18	3
Sporting CP (loan)	2018–19	Primeira Liga	27	1	7	0	4	0	5[c]	0	—		43	1
Sevilla	2019–20	La Liga	24	0	4	0	—		10[c]	0	—		38	0
	2020–21		30	0	6	0	—		7[i]	0	1[j]	0	44	0
	2021–22		21	0	4	0	—		3[c]	0	—		28	0
	2022–23		34	3	5	0	—		14[k]	1	—		53	4
	2023–24		22	1	1	0	—		6[i]	2	1[j]	0	30	3
	2024–25		31	1	0	0	—		—		—		31	1
	Total		162	5	20	0	—		40	3	2	0	224	8
Career total			399	39	47	1	4	0	82	6	8	1	540	47

1. Includes KNVB Cup, Chinese FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, Copa del Rey
2. Includes Taça da Liga
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. One appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield, four appearances and one goal in Eredivisie Europa League play-offs
5. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
7. Appearances in AFC Champions League
8. Appearance in Chinese FA Super Cup
9. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
10. Appearance in UEFA Super Cup
11. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 10 June 2025^[23]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Serbia	2014	9	1
	2015	2	0
	2016	5	0
	2017	6	0
	2018	0	0
	2019	3	0
	2020	8	0
	2021	11	0
	2022	7	0
	2023	9	0
	2024	6	0
	2025	4	0
Total		70	1

Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gudelj goal.^[23]

List of international goals scored by Nemanja Gudelj

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 November 2014	Perivolia Municipal Stadium, Chania, Greece	Greece	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Honours

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao^[24]

• Chinese FA Super Cup: 2018

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal: 2018–19^[25]
• Taça da Liga: 2018–19^[26]

Sevilla

• UEFA Europa League: 2019–20,^[27] 2022–23^[28]