Salatić with Ufa in 2018
| |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Veroljub Salatić | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-11-14) 14 November 1985 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Zvornik, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1994 | SC Zug | ||
| 1994–2000 | Zug 94 | ||
| 2000–2003 | Grasshopper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2011 | Grasshopper | 229 | (12) |
| 2011–2012 | AC Omonia | 25 | (1) |
| 2012–2015 | Grasshopper | 72 | (5) |
| 2015–2017 | Sion | 77 | (4) |
| 2017–2019 | Ufa | 30 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Grasshopper | 33 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2006 | Switzerland U-21 | 25 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2020–2021 | Grasshopper U21 (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2022 | Rapperswil-Jona II | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Veroljub "Vero" Salatić (Serbian Cyrillic: Верољуб Веро Салатић; born 14 November 1985) is a Bosnian-born Swiss football coach and a former player who played as a central midfielder.
ABosnian Serb, Salatić moved to Switzerland as a child and started training with local team SC Zug in 1992, aged 7. In 2000, he moved on to Grasshopper Club Zürich. In the 2003–04 season he broke into the first team. He is used mostly as a holding midfielder or as a central defender.
In July 2011, he signed a contract with Cypriot side AC Omonia.
On 31 August 2017, Salatić signed for Russian Premier League side FC Ufa.[1] He left Ufa on 3 June 2019 upon the expiration of his contract.[2]
On 17 June 2019, he returned to Grasshoppers for the second time, signing a 2-year contract.[3] The contract was terminated by the club on 11 August 2020,[4] and he retired from playing.
Salatić has represented Switzerland at various levels including at the U-19 European Championship in 2004 in Switzerland. In 2005, he starred at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The side were managed by Pierre-André Schürmann. Salatić starred alongside a Swiss team including Blerim Džemaili, Tranquillo Barnetta and Valon Behrami.
His success has not gone unnoticed by the Football Association of Serbia who have twice attempted to call him up, both times he refused saying he wished to play for Switzerland. He played his last match for the U21 side against England in 2006 and since then neither Köbi KuhnorOttmar Hitzfeld have shown any interest in calling him up.
As an ethnic Serb from Bosnia, he first expressed his desire to play for Serbia[5] but he was never called, so he later stated that he would like to play for national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[6][7]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Grasshoppers | 2003–04 | Swiss Super League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 0 | ||||
| 2005–06 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | – | 39 | 5 | |||
| 2006–07 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | – | 40 | 3 | |||
| 2007–08 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 2 | ||||
| 2008–09 | 32 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 41 | 4 | |||
| 2009–10 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 3 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 36 | 3 | |||
| Omonia | 2011–12 | Cypriot First Division | 25 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| Grasshoppers | 2012–13 | Swiss Super League | 31 | 3 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 3 | ||
| 2013–14 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2014–15 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 13 | 1 | |||
| Total (2 spells) | 301 | 17 | 24 | 3 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 358 | 25 | ||
| Sion | 2014–15 | Swiss Super League | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | – | 43 | 4 | |||
| 2016–17 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 77 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 6 | ||
| Ufa | 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 421 | 22 | 42 | 6 | 45 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 509 | 34 | ||
