PLAYER PROFILE

Dejan Stefanovic

Position: Defence

Height: 6'2

Weight: 12st 10lbs

Date of Birth: 1974-10-28 Belgrade, Serbia

Dejan Stefanovic

Here is a majestic and unflappable defender possessing aerial ability, a biting tackle and an educated left foot, he is able to play at fullback or in the centre of defence, both positions he has elegantly occupied for his country on no less than 19 occasions.

Dejan Stefanovic joined Portsmouth during the summer of 2003 on a three-year deal. There had been some doubts as to whether Harry Redknapp would actually get his man, after some work permit problems, but he finally put pen to paper in June.

Stefanovic is already familiar with the English game, having played for Sheffield Wednesday while they were in the Premiership between 1995 and 1999. Before that, he had started his career in what was Yugoslavia, with Red Star Belgrade.

After his time with Wednesday, he moved on to Vitesse Arnhem, where he would spend three years before joining Portsmouth.

Manager Redknapp joked: “He's a big drinker and a smoker, a real nightmare. But seriously, he's going to be a great player for us.

“He brings a lot of experience to the back and is solid on the left hand side. He's a great signing.

“He really wants to win and loves it in England. He's going to spend the rest of his life here and bring up his kids in England.”

Pompey also beat off stiff competition from Rangers to land the Serbia and Montenegro international: “Rangers came in strong for him at the end, but he'd already made up his mind that he wanted to come to us.”

His time with Portsmouth has proven to be a great success. In the 2003/04 season, he made 38 appearances and scored 3 times.

Such form continued through to the 2006/07 season when he moved on and joined Fulham after Harry Redknapp had made a number of signings of cover his absence.