AC Milan officially completed their second signing of the summer earlier this week as Strahinja Pavlovic joined the club on an initial four-year deal.
The deal had been reported on for weeks, and the centre-back finally arrived in Italy on Monday night, undergoing his medical on Tuesday – one that was more attentive than usual due to previous heart issues – and signed his contract on Wednesday.
All major sources are reporting that the transfer fee is €18m plus €2m in bonuses and his salary is €1.5m net per season until 2028, with the club holding an option to extend the deal by a year. He has taken the number 31, the same worn by Jaap Stam.
Pavlovic is a player that Milan have faced before in the Champions League when in the same group as Red Bull Salzburg the season before last, but what exactly can fans expect from him?
Background
Born in Šabac, Pavlović started out at local side Savacium and then headed to the powerhouses Partizan Belgrade in the summer of 2015, signing his first professional contract with the club three years later.
After coming through their youth ranks, he made his first-team debut aged 17 in a 3-0 victory over Proleter Novi Sad on 23 February 2019. That season saw him make 11 league appearances and start the Serbian Cup final, from which Partizan emerged victorious against historic rivals Red Star Belgrade.
He was already beginning to turn heads and that summer he was all set to join Lazio, but the deal fell through because they found some cardiac irregularities and decided not to go through with the signing.
Pavlovic eventually signed for Monaco in the winter mercato that followed, but remained at Partizan on loan until the summer. In his first six months with the French side he barely played, and loan spells at Cercle Bruges and Basel were then followed by a permanent switch to Red Bull Salzburg in summer 2022.
It would prove to be the perfect stepping stone for him. Pavlovic made his debut for the Austrian club on 15 July in the first round of the 2022–23 Austrian Cup, playing all 90 minutes in a 0–3 win against Fuegen.
He kicked on from there, winning the league title in his first season at the club and also playing Champions League football, where he came up against Milan twice. An interesting note: he has 16 goals to his name in his career, not bad for a young centre-back.
Pavlovic has already won 38 caps for Serbia too, for whom he played as a starter in the recent European Championship in Germany. He was also a key figure for his country at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
Strengths and weaknesses
Pavlovic stands tall at 1.94m (6ft4) and is a left-footed centre-back. At Red Bull Salzburg he was employed as the left-sided central defender in a back four by Mathias Jaissle and when moving into possession he shifted into a LCB role covering for the full-back Wober. While Salzburg employ a high pressing scheme it requires the defenders to play a high line.
In the Serbian national team set-up, Pavlovic plays as the LCB in a three-man defence (or five-man), with Serbia usually going for a more cautious approach.
With Salzburg playing a high line high press it requires the defenders to come off their line and push up aggressively to try and win the ball back and start quick counter-attacks.
Pavlovic is a very aggressive defender who likes to come off the line and stop attacks. Below we can see him moving out from the defensive line to stop an England attack at the Euros.
CHARECTERSTICS- DEFENSIVE TRAITS
With Salzburg playing a high line high press it requires the defenders to come off their line and press aggressively to try and win the ball back and start quick counter attacks. Pavlovic is a very aggressive defender who likes to come off the… pic.twitter.com/oFKw0Mcund
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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His tactical sense is very astute too. Here against Chelsea you can see him come off the line to create a 3v2 situation against the two Chelsea players.
His tactical sense is very astute. Here against Chelsea you can see him come off the line to create a 3v2 situation vs the 2 Chelsea players. pic.twitter.com/cPEGks12Ab
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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With a large frame, he uses his physicality and stays tall against opposition No.9s and other physically large players.
With a large frame, he is pretty physical and stays tall against opposition no.9’s and other physically large players. pic.twitter.com/ghcGgms5TT
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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With a height of 1.94 metres he is dominant in the air and takes part in a lot of aerial duels, something that could make him a good complement to Fikayo Tomori or Pierre Kalulu for example.
With a height of 1.94 metres he is dominant in the air and takes part in a lot of aerial duels. pic.twitter.com/6LNq6XZbRq
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Pavlovic also likes to anticipate danger in advance and reads the game very intelligently. He tries to read the movement of the opposition player and intercept passes before they get into dangerous areas.
Pavlovic also likes to anticipate and reads the game very intelligentely. He tries to read the movement of the opposition player and make interceptions of the ball. pic.twitter.com/evSqJXYp7H
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Even though he is tall and well built, Pavlovic has great speed and acceleration as we can see with how he comes across and slide tackles Rafael Leao, preventing perhaps a goal after he was put through.
But even though he is a very tall guy he has great speed and acceleration as we can see with how he comes across and slide tackles Leao preventing perhaps a goal after he was clean through on goal. pic.twitter.com/dal1lJ0M3t
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Another aspect that is important for central defenders is their 1v1 ability, and while the interventions might not always be conventional Pavlovic is good in this aspect. Perhaps playing on the left of a three for Serbia and coming up against quality wingers has helped.
1v1’s are very important for a defender. Its something Pavlovic is good at defending pic.twitter.com/SXmYEbB7nJ
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Having long legs also helps to get a good reach, as seen in the clip below when he denies Leao with an excellent challenge.
With long legs it helps you get a good reach as we can see here pic.twitter.com/4MwvVIPLac
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Being the size that he is, it means the 23-year-old is able to be an effective shot-blocker too, something which also requires positional awareness.
He also likes to use his body to stand in the way of shots to block shots. pic.twitter.com/Gca1zkuIB4
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Looking at attacking qualities briefly, Pavlovic is an aerial threat with his height from set pieces, as seen in the next clip when a Thiago Silva clearance saves Chelsea.
As a passer, Pavlovic isn’t as good as other ball-playing centre-backs. He is more of a traditional CB who always opts to take the short and safest passing option.
CHARECTERSTICS- OFFENSIVE TRAITS
Aerial threat with his height always remains as we can see here vs Chelsea. Required a Thiago Silva clearance to save Chelsea.
As a passer, Pavlovic isn’t as good as ball playing CB’s. He is more of a traditional CB who always opts to take the… pic.twitter.com/dVymPh5n1p
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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In addition to build-up play, another area for the Serb to improve is his concentration. In the final clip, Rade Krunic went unmarked behind him to score the goal for Milan and he should have done better to keep tabs on him.
AREAS TO IMPROVE
Concentration is a key area for Pavlovic to improve his game. Here Krunic went unmarked behind him to score the goal for Milan and he should have done better to mark him pic.twitter.com/p7tiQwdwRT
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 29, 2024
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Statistical comparison
It is perhaps to be expected given the relative difficult of the Austrian Bundesliga, with respect, but Pavlovic stands out in several key categories.
Among defenders who played in the Austrian top flight in 2023-24, Strahinja Pavlović was first for duels won (298), tackles (80), successful passes (1948) and headed goals scored (3) across all competitions.
Another thing that was interesting to note was the top speeds that he recorded at the European Championship, data that is hard to find for the Austrian Bundesliga. He hits speeds of 33.8km/h and 34.4km/h. By comparison, Tomori often comes in at around 33-34km/h.
Pavlovic's speed stats vs England and Denmark are insane. pic.twitter.com/3LiHhN2B6t
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) July 31, 2024
The brilliant FBRef have a tool which allows a comparison between Pavlovic and other centre-backs in the ‘top five’ European leagues (so his Austrian Bundesliga minutes do not count) plus the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
Looking down the many categories, Pavlovic is in the 91st percentile for Progressive Carries (meaning he is better than 90% of other central defenders), the 81st percentile for Long Passes Completed, the 96th percentile for Through Balls and the 92nd percentile for Shot-Creating Actions.
Defensively, he is in the 90th percentile for Tackles, the 92nd for Dribblers Tackled, 92nd for Ball Recoveries and 82nd for Aerial Duels won.
Conclusion
The right foot/left foot combination is perhaps that has one been undermined given angles and geometries are felt more on the pitch than in the stands. Signing Pavlovic – who already had an audition two years ago – gives Milan an edge they haven’t had in quite a while.
A physical monster on the pitch with pace could and should also elevate Milan’s ability to defend set pieces, given how frail the Rossoneri have been in this aspect.
Transfer rating: 8/10
Konate now…or again atalanta like hojberg
Great signing 👏 for even a better price.
Napoli payed almost double for a player at best as good as Pavlovic.
Sounds like a bargain at that price.
Good signing, he’ll be a quality player in a few years
Thanks for the great article.
He was a complete nobody to me before his name came popping up as one of our targets. Ticks all the right boxes from a physical prospective , and his youtube video looks great. But I suspect he will need a long time to adapt, given the high jump in tactical and technical level in serie a. We will need patience with this one.
Not sure if this will get deleted or not, but just to keep it balanced …..he was pretty bad in interceptions….bottom 30th percentile. Shot blocked at 46th percentile, around the same for passes blocked. He’s very poor with errors at 0.18 per 90 which is high which is around 7 in total for the season. His fouls commited is also high. Although he is tall his aerial percentage won is only in the 29th percentile, which means he wins alot but loses alot of them in quantity. Also something which could be concerning relatively is his pass completion rate which is 19th percentile for a centre back. Centre back usually have high pass completions as they build out from the back, make many relatively safe passes and by sheer number of passing have high rates.
Also in the video there, the header from Krunic is not surprising as Krunic was one our better headers of the ball in our team and relatively in Europe. I know he gets alot of hate around here but these are the facts.