Petar Ratkov

Petar Ratkov
Петар Ратков
Ratkov with Red Bull Salzburg in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-08-18) 18 August 2003
Place of birth Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position Centre-forward
Team information
Current team
Lazio
Number 20
Youth career
2011–2020 DIF Belgrade
2020–2021 TSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2023 TSC 76 (16)
2023–2026 Red Bull Salzburg 63 (17)
2026– Lazio 7 (0)
International career
2021–2022 Serbia U19 8 (3)
2022–2023 Serbia U21 7 (2)
2023– Serbia 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 March 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 8 September 2024

Petar Ratkov (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Ратков; born 18 August 2003) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Serie A club Lazio and the Serbia national team.[1]

Club career

On 18 June 2023, Ratkov signed for reigning Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year contract.[2]

On 8 January 2026, Ratkov signed with Serie A club Lazio for a fee of €13 million.[3]

International career

Ratkov is of mixed Bulgarian and Croatian descent. He holds both Serbian and Bulgarian citizenships which made him able to represent Serbia or Bulgaria; he was also eligible to play for Croatia through his mother's aforementioned descent. In September 2023, he declined a call up for Bulgaria, committing himself to the Serbian national team.[4][5]

Ratkov was selected in Serbia's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024, but did not make an appearances in the tournament.

Style of play

Ratkov has been analysed by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory. In issue no. 375 of its weekly report, he was ranked 79th among the top 100 performing under-20 outfield players across 32 European leagues. CIES characterised his profile as that of a target-man striker with a primary emphasis on finishing, based on performance data across multiple areas of play, including aerial ability and shooting.[6]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 March 2026[7]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TSC 2020–21 Serbian SuperLiga 9 0 1 0 10 0
2021–22 Serbian SuperLiga 31 3 0 0 31 3
2022–23 Serbian SuperLiga 36 13 4 1 40 14
Total 76 16 5 1 81 17
Red Bull Salzburg 2023–24 Austrian Bundesliga 24 5 5 1 6[b] 0 35 6
2024–25 Austrian Bundesliga 22 3 3 1 8[b] 0 2[c] 0 35 4
2025–26 Austrian Bundesliga 17 9 3 3 9[d] 0 29 12
Total 63 17 11 5 23 0 2 0 99 22
Lazio 2025–26 Serie A 7 0 0 0 7 0
Career total 146 33 16 6 23 0 2 0 187 39
  1. ^ Includes Serbian Cup, Austrian Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
  4. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 8 September 2024[8]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2023 1 0
2024 2 0
Total 3 0

References

  1. ^ "RATKOV PETAR". FK TSC website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Serbisches Sturmtalent verstärkt unsere Roten Bullen" [Serbian storm talent strengthens our Red Bulls] (in German). FC Red Bull Salzburg. 18 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Petar Ratkov in biancoceleste a titolo definitivo" [Petar Ratkov joins the Biancoceleste on a permanent basis] (in Italian). SS Lazio. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  4. ^ Сръбски нападател е отклонил предложението на Кръстаич да заиграе за България
  5. ^ "HRVATI, BUGARI... ŽELEO SAM SAMO SRBIJU: Petar Ratkov prvi put govori o reprezentaciji! Otkriva i ko mu je od kolega IDOL!". Kurir (in Serbian). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Best performing youngsters: Bukayo Saka at the top". football-observatory. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  7. ^ Petar Ratkov at Soccerway
  8. ^ Petar Ratkov at National-Football-Teams.com