Richairo Živković

Richairo Živković

Živković in training with Ajax in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Richairo Juliano Živković
Date of birth	(1996-09-05) 5 September 1996
Place of birth	Assen, Netherlands
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	FC Utrecht
Number	9
Youth career
–2007	FVV Foxhol
2007–2012	FC Groningen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	FC Groningen	37	(12)
2014–	Ajax	7	(1)
2014–2016	→ Jong Ajax	40	(27)
2015	→ Willem II (loan)	16	(3)
2016–	→ FC Utrecht (loan)	11	(4)
National team‡
2013	Netherlands U18	1	(0)
2013–2015	Netherlands U19	10	(5)
2015–	Netherlands U20	6	(0)
2016–	Netherlands U21	1	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 November 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:17, 16 November 2016 (UTC)

Richairo Juliano Živković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ришаиро Живковић, born 5 September 1996) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club FC Utrecht, on loan from Ajax.^[1][2]

Club career

FC Groningen

Born in Assen, Živković began playing football at FVV from Foxhol. He was noticed early on due to his agility and speed, and at the age of 11 he left for the youth academy of FC Groningen where he progressed. He brought more attention to himself due to his performance for the reserves team, and by the end of 2012 he signed a three-year contract with the club.^[3] On 2 December 2012 he came on as an 84th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over Heracles Almelo,^[4] making him the youngest debutant in the history of the club.^[5] On the first match day of the 2013–14 Eredivisie season, on Saturday, 3 August 2013 Živković scored his first regular season goal for the club, thereby relieving Arjen Robben as the youngest to have ever scored for Groningen.^[6] The comparisons with Robben are quickly made.^[7] He was subsequently called up for the Netherlands under-19 team.^[8] His talent did not go unnoticed, with 11 top football clubs enquiring about him by November 2013, including the likes of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.^[9]

Ajax

On 17 March 2014 it was officially announced that Živković had agreed to sign for Ajax, taking a three-year contract starting 1 July 2014.^[10] FC Groningen also receives Ajax forward Danny Hoesen, as well as a percentage of Živković's transfer fee should Ajax sell the player before the expiration of his contract, hereby following in the footsteps of Luis Suárez who had transferred from Groningen to Ajax before him.^[11] On 5 June 2014 Živković made his debut for Ajax in a friendly match against Wacker Innsbruck concluding the clubs pre-season trainings camp in Austria. He scored the final goal in the 46th minute of the 5–1 victory.^[12] He made his competitive debut for the reserves team Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie season opener, a North Holland derby match which resulted in a 3–0 win at home against SC Telstar.^[13] He scored his first goal for the reserves in his second appearance from a penalty kick in the 55th minute against Fortuna Sittard, which resulted in a 2–0 win.^[14] He made his third appearance for the reserves team in another North Holland derby match against neighbouring FC Volendam. The game ended in a 5–0 loss at home. Živković was sent off receiving a red card in the 59th minute following the ejection of Ajax goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh in the 35th minute of the match.^[15]

On 28 October 2014, Živković made his regular season debut in the first team, playing in the third round KNVB Cup away match against SV Urk. Coming on as 46th-minute substitute for Arkadiusz Milik, he scored the final goal in the 89th minute of the 4–0 victory.^[16] Scoring on his debut for the first team, Živković became the 50th Ajax player to do so since the introduction of professional football in the Netherlands.^[17]

Willem II

On 22 June 2015, it was announced that Živković was sent on loan at Willem II, together with Lesly de Sa and Ruben Ligeon. On 1 July 2015 he scored the first four goals in a friendly game against Jong Brabant which ended 0-12. Lesley de Sa also added a goal in that game. ^[18] However, he already returned to Ajax in February 2016, as his loan at Willem II did not turn out to be a success.^[19]

FC Utrecht

Živković started the 2016-17 season with Jong Ajax for which he scored three times in two matches. Especially after the arrival of Bertrand Traoré at Ajax, his prospects for playing time with the first team of Ajax decreased. On 16 August 2016, it was announced that he was being sent on loan to FC Utrecht until the end of the season.^[20]

Personal life

Živković carries the last name of his mother Mira, who is originally from Serbia, and his father who left the family when he was little, was from Curaçao.^[21] In addition to Dutch, he speaks Serbian.^[22] As a young child he would visit his relatives in Serbia every summer. Through his parents he is eligible to represent Serbia, Curaçao or the Netherlands, as of yet he has not represented either nation at the senior level, but he has appeared in the Dutch youth national team system.

Career statistics

Club performance

As of 2016-10-20

¹ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
² Includes Johan Cruijff Shield matches.

Reserves performance

References

External links

• Voetbal International profile (Dutch)