Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has acquired 25-year-old striker Dejan Joveljic from the LA Galaxy in exchange for $4 million, marking the first cash-for-player trade in MLS history.
Sporting has signed Joveljic to a new, three-year Designated Player contract through 2027 with a club option for 2028. He joins Sporting on the heels of a brilliant 2024 campaign that saw the Serbian international record 21 goals and eight assists in all competitions, including six goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs as LA won MLS Cup.
Joveljic has amassed 85 goals and 26 assists during an accomplished professional career that has spanned Serbia, Germany and Major League Soccer in addition to loan spells in Belgium and Austria. The center forward was notably a Serbian SuperLiga champion at Red Star Belgrade and in 2021 joined the Galaxy, where he totaled 45 goals and 18 assists in four seasons as an integral part of LA’s attack. On the international stage, Joveljic has scored two goals in seven appearances for the Serbia Men’s National Team, having previously represented his country at the U-16 through U-21 youth levels.
Born in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Joveljic developed in the academy of Serbian powerhouse Red Star Belgrade. After six years of climbing the youth ranks, he turned professional as a 16-year-old in 2016 and helped Red Star to the 2017-18 Serbian SuperLiga title with three goals across the final three games of the season. Joveljic was named to the 40-man shortlist for the 2018 Golden Boy Award, given to the best player in Europe under the age of 21, and enjoyed a breakout 2018-19 campaign that yielded 11 goals in all competitions and his debut in the UEFA Champions League.
Joveljic was transferred to German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019 and scored on his club debut in a UEFA Europa League qualifying win over FC Flora. He spent the latter half of the 2019-20 season on loan at Belgian heavyweight Anderlecht, where he had a goal and an assist across his first two starts before Covid prompted the postponement of the Belgian Pro League. Joveljic then had a vibrant loan stint at Austrian Bundesliga club Wolfsberger, tallying 20 goals and five assists in all competitions during the 2020-2021 campaign.
In August 2021, the Galaxy acquired Joveljic from Eintracht Frankfurt as a U22 Initiative signing. He scored his first two MLS goals in a 3-3 El Trafico draw versus LAFC on Aug. 28, 2021, before taking a major step forward in his first full season with the club. The 2022 campaign saw Joveljic score in four different competitions for LA, netting 16 goals—including 11 in the regular season, three in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and one in the MLS Cup Playoffs against eventual champion LAFC.
Joveljic added six goals and four assists in 2023 before delivering a career year in 2024. He scored in each of the Galaxy’s first five MLS matches last season and bagged braces in wins over FC Dallas and LAFC, never going more than three MLS matches without a goal. He ended the regular season with career-highs in goals (15) and assists (six), pacing a potent Galaxy attack that led the Western Conference with 69 goals.
In the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, Joveljic reached new heights by leading all players with six goals and guiding the Galaxy to their sixth MLS Cup title. He had two goals and an assist on two separate occasions, a 5-0 first-round win over the Colorado Rapids on Oct. 26 and a 6-2 dismantling of Minnesota United FC in the conference semifinals on Nov. 24. Six days later, Joveljic scored a dramatic 85th-minute winner to seal a 1-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC in the Western Conference Final. He was once again influential in MLS Cup 2024 presented by Audi, scoring the winner as LA claimed a 2-1 home triumph over the New York Red Bulls. Joveljic ended his dazzling playoff campaign with eight goal contributions (six goals, two assists) in five matches and finished tied for second in MLS with 21 goals for the season (including playoffs).
Top Goal Scorers – 2024 MLS Season (including playoffs)
- Christian Benteke (age 34) - 23 goals
- Dejan Joveljic (age 25) - 21 goals
- Lionel Messi (age 37) - 21 goals
- Luis Suarez (age 38) - 21 goals
- Denis Bouanga (age 30) - 21 goals
Internationally, Joveljic has earned seven caps for Serbia since debuting in June 2021, most recently starting against Spain in a UEFA Nations League match last October. He opened his Serbia scoring account with a brace to overturn a late deficit in a 3-2 friendly win over Jordan on June 16, 2023.
Joveljic starred for Serbia at the youth international levels, scoring six goals for the U-16s and nine goals for the U-17s, including one versus Spain in the 2016 European Under-17 Championship. He played for the U-18s and U-19s from 2017 to 2018 before breaking into the U-21 side, where he had a hat-trick against Estonia in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying on Nov. 15, 2019.
Sporting’s roster will continue to take shape in the buildup to the 2025 season, which kicks off Feb. 18 with a monumental showdown against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF in Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup at Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting KC season tickets, half-season ticket plans and other ticket packages are available at SportingKC.com.
For a full list of the club’s offseason roster moves, click here.
Sporting KC Roster as of Feb. 1, 2025
- Goalkeepers (3): Jack Kortkamp, John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe
- Defenders (7): Joaquin Fernandez, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Logan Ndenbe, Dany Rosero, Khiry Shelton, Robert Voloder
- Midfielders (6): Jacob Bartlett, Zorhan Bassong, Jake Davis, Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez, Erik Thommy
- Forwards (6): Stephen Afrifa, William Agada, Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi, Mason Toye, Alenis Vargas
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) acquires forward Dejan Joveljic in a $4 million cash trade from the LA Galaxy (MLS).
VITALS
- Dejan Joveljic (DAY-yahn YO-vel-itch)
- Number: 9
- Position: Forward
- Birthdate: 8/7/1999 (25 years old)
- Height: 6-0
- Weight: 165 lbs.
- Birthplace: Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia
- Previous Club: LA Galaxy (MLS)
- Instagram: @joveljic
