Is it important to you to retain this connection to your roots?

Of course. I always have that connection every day. I’m in touch with my old friends and family and it’s going to be like this until the end of my life. I like them and they like me. We are always in touch. They follow my games and, one day, I will go back to live there.

Are there any broader aims with the club, such as developing young talent, throughout Serbia and not just close to you?

Yeah, I think Serbia always has great talents. The only thing we have missing are the conditions. We don’t have that many stadiums and they are very, very old and not modern. But I think, now, the Serbian FA have started to invest in the stadiums and they are going to be, of course, better for the players, better for the supporters and help towards the games. They need to invest a lot if they want the football to improve a fair bit.

Clearly playing at the World Cup was a huge deal for the country – you really showed your passion and pride out in Russia in the way you performed?

Of course, it was a great experience for me and very important. We did our best in the first game to help us qualify from the group stage. We did our best, we won that, but then lost the second and third game. The second game [against Switzerland], especially, we should have done better. We had a chance to qualify for the next round but we didn’t have enough experience to do it. I think, in the future, it’s very important for us to qualify for the Euros and, with the experience we have from the World Cup, I think we can do more. It was an amazing experience and there was great organisation from the Russian Federation. Yes, I was very happy. I enjoyed it and hope Serbia can also be there at the next World Cup.



The full interview with Nemanja appeared in the October issue of Inside United, the official magazine, which features regular exclusive insights from the players. November's issue is on sale now - featuring Marcus Rashford on the cover.