Milinković-Savić was born into a sporting family in Lleida, Spain, where his father, Nikola Milinković, played football professionally at the time. His mother, Milana Savić, was a professional basketball player. Sergej also made his first football steps with Sporting CP, while his father was playing in Portugal. Milinković-Savić is the older brother of Vanja Milinković-Savić, a fellow footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He possesses a Spanish passport thanks to being born there.
Milinković-Savić came through the youth academy of Vojvodina. He was one of the midfielders who emerged from the youth squad that won two consecutive national youth championship titles, alongside Mijat Gaćinović and Nebojša Kosović. Consequently, Milinković-Savić signed his first professional contract with the club on 26 December 2012, penning a three-year deal. Milinković-Savić made his senior debut in a 3–0 away loss to Jagodina on 23 November 2013. He scored his first goal in a 1–1 away draw with Spartak Subotica on 9 March 2014. In total, Milinković-Savić made 13 league appearances and scored three goals in the 2013–14 season. He also helped Vojvodina win the 2013–14 Serbian Cup in the club's centennial year.
In June 2014, Milinković-Savić signed a five-year contract with Belgian club Genk and was given the number 20 shirt. He made his competitive debut for the club in a 1–1 home league draw with Cercle Brugge on 2 August 2014. Milinković-Savić scored his first goal for Genk in a 1–1 away league draw against Lokeren on 18 January 2015. He scored a total of five league goals in 24 appearances during the 2014–15 season.
Milinković-Savić represented Serbia at the 2013 UEFA Under-19 Championship, winning the gold medal. He played the full 90 minutes in four out of five games, including the final match of the competition against France that Serbia won 1–0. Subsequently, Milinković-Savić appeared at the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship, as the team was eliminated in the semi-final by Portugal after penalties. He missed Serbia's last spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out. The following summer, Milinković-Savić was one of Serbia's most influential players at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as the team won the tournament. He appeared in six out of seven games and scored one goal against Mali in the group stage. Due to his performances during the tournament, Milinković-Savić was awarded the Bronze Ball. In the summer of 2017, Lazio prevented Milinković-Savić from playing at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Senior
In October 2015, Milinković-Savić received his first call-up to the full squad by manager Radovan Ćurčić for Serbia's UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers against Albania and Portugal. He remained an unused substitute in both games. In May 2016, Milinković-Savić was selected by newly appointed manager Slavoljub Muslin for friendly matches against Cyprus, Israel, and Russia. However, after failing to receive any playing time in the first two games, Milinković-Savić left the team in agreement with Muslin who said that some other players better fit into his tactical formations. On 30 October 2017, it was announced that Serbia caretaker managerMladen Krstajić included Milinković-Savić in the squad for friendlies against China and South Korea. In June 2018, he was selected in the Serbian squad for the 2018 World Cup, playing all three group stage matches.
Style of play
Sergej Milinković-Savić has established himself as a "complete midfielder," in the modern sense of the term, which earned him the moniker the Paul Pogba of Serbia. A versatile player, he is capable of playing in several midfield roles, including as a "trequartista," or in a holding role, although he is usually deployed as a central midfielder, in the "mezzala" role. His style of play has been compared by pundits to that of players such as Zinedine Zidane and Yaya Touré, as he blends the traditional attacking movement, positional sense, and finishing ability of an attacking midfielder, with the height and physicality of a target man or defensive midfielder; as such, he also is effective in the air, and is capable of scoring goals with his head as well as either foot, by making late runs from behind into the penalty area, or striking from distance. He also possesses good technique, tactical intelligence, vision, and passing ability, despite his lack of pace, as well as tenacity and an excellent defensive work-rate, which enables him to help out at both ends of the pitch, carry the ball, and start attacking plays after winning back possession.
