By the standards of top-flight professional soccer, particularly in star-spangled Los Angeles, Dejan Joveljic comes across as pretty down to earth.
“Whenever they ask me for some interviews, I'm always saying no, no, I don't want, because I have nothing funny to say,” the LA Galaxy’s striker explained to MLSsoccer.com this week. “I'm always repeating the same thing. So there is nothing special.”
In fact, it was Joveljic’s turn to be starstruck when Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF hit town for the Galaxy’s 2024 season opener last month – not by the Argentine GOAT, but by the presence of an honored guest watching from a suite at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The story starts on the morning of the game, when Joveljic got a phone call from retired LA Lakers legend Vlade Divac after church. That in and of itself is noteworthy for basketball fans of a certain age, but it was not unexpected for the Galaxy’s 24-year-old goalscorer; he and Divac are familiar, as both are members of SoCal’s Serbian expatriate community.
“I received a call from Vlade, and I knew that he's coming for the game, because I organized it a few days ago,” recounted Joveljic. “But he said ‘Hey, Deki, one special guy is in town, he wants to watch the game.’ I said, 'Who is that guy who wants to watch the game?' And when he said Novak Djokovic, I was like, I had to stop driving my car.”
The Djoker is perhaps the most famous living Serbian, world tennis’ No. 1 for most of the past decade and an icon to his compatriots. Joveljic was all too happy to hook him up with that weekend’s hottest ticket in the South Bay.
When Joveljic opened the scoring in the 75th minute, he paid tribute to both of his guests, mimicking a tennis stroke and sinking an imaginary jump shot.
“It was an amazing feeling,” he said. “I didn't have many special wishes in my life, but one of them was to meet [Djokovic] and to talk with him, and he came to watch my game – and in our stadium, to watch LA Galaxy.”
Serbia's sporting tradition
Djokovic returned the favor when he played in the Indian Wells Open, inviting Joveljic and his girlfriend out to the Coachella Valley to watch him play. Joveljic also enjoys turning up at Crypto.com Arena to support friends and countrymen in the NBA when they pass through town – the likes of Nikola Jokić, whom he proudly notes is the odds-on pick to win a third league MVP award this season, and the Atlanta Hawks duo of Bogdan Bogdanović (Serbia) and Clint Capela (Switzerland).
“The Serbs all stick together,” laughed Sacha Kljestan, a retired US international of Serbian descent who became friends with Joveljic when they were Galaxy teammates from 2021-22. “I met Vlade Divac probably five times when I was a kid. He would come to this Serbian church in LA. If my dad knew he was going to be there, he would take us so me and my brother could meet him and stuff like that. The Serbs all stick together, which is awesome.
“Dejan and I are actually going to go together to the Clippers-Nuggets game [next month], and he's like, ‘we're gonna meet Jokić after the game.’ So somehow he knows the two best Serbian athletes of all time, pretty much.”
The global population of Serbs is estimated to be around 10 million. So how does a small nation churn out so many accomplished performers?
“I don't know, I need also to find an answer to that question,” responded Joveljic with a grin. “Yeah, small country but a lot of big names, big athletes. Really, really unbelievable.”
Said Kljestan: “For soccer, I think it's just a rich history that is kind of in our blood. There's just a lot of good, technical players … there's also this tough mentality, I think, that comes with obviously what the country has gone through for such a long time in terms of war, which breeds a certain hardness and a desire, I think, not only to get out but also to support your people. They're a very proud country, they love their country.”
The Galaxy believe Joveljic is poised to add his name to that list in earnest this season, his fourth in Carson but first as the undisputed starter at the spearhead of the Gs’ attack, which will take aim at St. Louis CITY SC, last year's top side in the West, on Saturday night (10:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free).
Stepping out of Chicharito's shadow
Given the fame, track record and salary of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Joveljic had little choice but to embrace a super-sub role while the two were teammates. But the club made a conscious decision to give the Serbian striker a runway to step forward as Chicharito’s contract expired, the Mexican legend eventually electing to return to Chivas Guadalajara to complete his recovery from a torn ACL and seek one more chapter in his illustrious career.
“I think he always felt that no matter what, whether he was scoring goals or not, that Chicharito would be the locked-in starter,” said Kljestan. “Which is always tough for a young striker, because all that really matters is goals, and Dejan was getting his moments off the bench in 2022 where he was scoring a lot of goals off the bench, but wasn't starting that often.
“Whereas now with Chicharito not on the roster anymore, he is the guy, and he knows he is the guy. And so I think his mentality has to change a little bit, to know that everyone depends on him more than just coming off the bench and trying to make a difference that way. So it's a different role.”
The numbers reflect good reasoning for the Galaxy’s faith. Joveljic has been one of MLS’s most productive forwards since last fall, and has shown similar quality in other streaks and flashes over his time in Carson. He’s already scored three goals and added an assist in the first three matches of the new campaign.
The player, too, made a choice last year, committing himself to the Gs despite a reported approach from Turkish Süper Lig club Trabzonspor.
“Before the last season ended, I had an offer from one Turkey club, big club,” he said. “But I saw some newspaper and some guys on internet, they were saying that I accepted the offer, but that is not true. I was not even thinking about that. So yeah, I'm happy here, and I'm looking forward for this season and to do a lot of good things in this club and to make our fans happy.
“[In 2021] I had two offers: from Saint-Étienne, in France, and LA Galaxy,” he noted. “I made the decision, and I do not regret even one moment, so I'm happy with my decision. And yeah, I was young in that time, and I'm still young, was a tough decision, especially because of the time difference – I'm far from my home. But at the end, when I look at every aspect, everything, I'm happy here.”
A blue-chip prospect when he hit the scene at Red Star Belgrade, Joveljic was still a teenager when he made a multi-million-dollar transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt, yet couldn’t break into the Bundesliga side’s first team, going out on loan to Anderlecht and Austrian club Wolfsberger AC. Moving to Los Angeles introduced him to a whole different mindset on this side of the Atlantic.
“I like Americans, they are so kind, so friendly, and you ask them for something, they're ready to talk with you 10, 15 minutes about some basic, unnecessary thing, and I like it,” he said. “Here everything is chill. I don't know if that is because of LA, but people are easy, chill.”
Somewhat incredibly, Joveljic is now LA’s longest-tenured player, which reflects both his loyalty and the sustained degree of turnover at DHSP. After missing out on the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in two of his first three seasons, he feels that the ceiling has risen significantly, particularly with the signing of pricey wingers Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec to provide service and stretch the field for him and playmaker Riqui Puig.
“I think since I'm here, this is our best team so far, I have to be honest, even though we had some good players in the past. But this year, I think that we are best, and I'm happy because I'm still in this team. I'm the guy who is the longest here,” said Joveljic. “We’re going to be much closer to the trophy this year.
“I'm not a player who is going to dribble two, three guys. I mean, sometimes it can happen, but I need good wingers, I need crosses, I need balls in the box, and that's my space. And if I receive good service, I'm going to put the balls in the net. So it's as simple as that, and if everyone is healthy and if we play good and if we listen to our coach, we are going to make big things.”
Euro dreams
His mentality is such that he embraces the additional expectations that accompany this sort of talk, both individually and collectively. Joveljic has earned a handful of caps at the international level, including two appearances in Serbia’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, and wants to climb back into the national team reckoning.
While manager Dragan Stojković hasn’t called on him in a while, he holds out hope that strong form with LA can nudge him onto the radar in time to have a chance for a spot at this summer’s European Championship, even with stars like Dušan Vlahović, Dušan Tadić and Aleksandar Mitrović also in the mix.
“I'm used to that. But this year is something different, energy is different,” Joveljic reckoned. “So some different pressures. Let's say that I feel some sort of pressure, but that's normal in the job.
“If I play every game, if I’m healthy, double digits are a minimum. So that means at least 10 goals in this season,” he added. “But hopefully I'm going to score much more, and assists as well. And hopefully the national team, to play some games for the national team, and at the end to win some trophies.”
Leaving a legacy in LA
He also feels a responsibility to his club, its supporters and its long history of success.
“We are the most famous club in MLS,” he said. “If you ask in Europe, name me one club in USA, everyone will say LA Galaxy. So we are like that, even though in the last couple of years, we are not doing well. But we always get our best fans and everyone knows us.
“For LA Galaxy fans, I want to make them happy and I want to see them in the stands, to celebrate together. My goal is to enjoy them and to enjoy in our wins,” Joveljic added, “and the end of the season that we can all together lift the trophy.”
This is more than just idle talk or pandering to the Victoria Block, says Kljestan.
“He always said to me over the years. I want to be a legend at LA Galaxy. I want to be the all-time leading scorer at LA Galaxy, I want to win championships with LA Galaxy. So he loves the club,” said the retired playmaker, now an analyst on MLS Season Pass. “He really wants to make a name for himself in Major League Soccer. Because I know over the past couple of years when maybe he's not so happy that he's not starting every game, there were a lot of other clubs in MLS that were reaching out and trying to trade for him or to buy him.
“And he was saying, no, I want to be a Galaxy legend. This is the club that brought me here, and I want to do really well here. So I think he loves it here in LA.”
"Best chess soccer player in the world"
Joveljic confirms as much himself. Though as much as he enjoys the bright lights and multitude of activities on offer in SoCal, he describes his daily routine as a simple one: Wake up, go train at DHSP, go home to rest, perhaps play some video games and chess as he waits for that weekend’s match.
Plenty of chess, actually. Joveljic is an accomplished player with almost as many ambitious goals in that sport as he does in soccer. He usually plays several matches a day and takes lessons via Skype from international master Miodrag Perunovic, who coaches Serbia’s national chess team.
“My dad and my grandpa, they taught me how to play chess when I was young, but I wasn't playing that well. But I started to play seriously in Corona[virus] time,” Joveljic explained. “I was in Anderlecht, in Belgium, and I couldn't go work anywhere, I was stuck in the apartment. So I decided to play chess.
“I was doing chess lessons and German lessons at the same time, every day, and I did over 100 lessons. And yeah, I'm a good player, let's say. I can beat a lot of professionals – not grandmasters, sometimes. But international masters, FIDE masters, candidate masters, I beat them all day.”
Perunovic has proudly dubbed Joveljic the “best chess soccer player in the world,” and the striker aspires to keep climbing the sport’s ladder of expertise categories over time.
“Sometimes it’s therapy, sometimes it’s full tilt, when I play one, two, three games!” he joked. “But let's say in the last month, I decided to play maybe five, six games per day and study more. Before that I was playing a lot of games that day, but now I play four, five, six, and I like that way. Because I can play real chess. If I play 50 games per day, it makes no sense. There is no quality, just quantity.
“My goal is to be FM, FIDE master (the name refers to the sport’s governing body, the Federation Internationale des Echecs). My rating is 2217, so I need to reach 2300, which is possible. But also if I lose some games, also, I can go down with my rating. So everything is possible.”
Though he doesn’t delve too far into comparisons between the sports, chess does provide Joveljic with a mental space that helps him process the lessons he takes from the pitch.
“When I play chess, I also think about if I did something well on the field, or I could do something better on the field,” he said. “But almost 24/7 I think about this, what I'm doing and what is my job, and how can I improve?”
That can only serve him well as he chases the hefty to-do list he’s assigned himself. Kljestan, with whom Joveljic used to dominate Teqball games in the Galaxy’s locker room, sees a player with all the tools to achieve those dreams.
“[Among] the guys that I've played with in my career, he's a very, very professional player, the way that he works in training and in the gym every day and is so solely focused on just soccer and scoring goals,” said Kljestan. “It bodes really well for him.”
