“We lost a great player,” Torino coach Ivan Juric said on Wednesday, a day after Sasa Lukic concluded his transfer to Fulham, for a fee worth in the region of £8million ($9.8m). “We emerge from this a little bit weakened, losing a star man.”

Torino were resigned to losing Lukic at some point, especially following a contract dispute in the summer which led to the captaincy being taken from him. But when it happened, there was still a sense of loss. A midfielder who could do everything was gone, and for a fee that is probably below his true value.

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Torino’s loss may well be Fulham’s gain.

Lukic’s progress had been tracked for some time in south west London and, after facing competition from fellow Premier League side Bournemouth, they secured his signature, with Lukic signing off on the move in Turin before heading to Paris to collect his UK visa. Lukic preferred the move to the bustling capital over the far smaller south-coast holiday resort — and the chance it provided to link up with international team-mate Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Mitrovic and Lukic have made similar career journeys. Both are graduates of the academy at Partizan Belgrade in their homeland, with Mitrovic two years ahead of Lukic in the system. Indeed, a 17-year-old Lukic signed his first professional deal at Partizan the day after Mitrovic, then 18, left to join Belgium’s Anderlecht.

As Mitrovic did, Lukic would play for Partizan’s feeder team, Teleoptik. He joined Partizan aged nine after being scouted by renowned talent spotter Dusan Trbojevic while playing in tournaments in Sabac, a city near the village where Lukic grew up, an hour’s drive west of Belgrade.

Lukic was part of a talented group, which included Danilo Pantic (once of Chelsea, now back at Partizan) Andrija Zivkovic (now at PAOK in Greece, having starred for Serbia at the recent World Cup) and Nemanja Radonjic (a Torino team-mate, on loan from France’s Marseille).

Former Partizan youth coach Darko Tesovic first met Lukic when the Fulham new boy was 13. “He is an athlete who sets an example,” Tesovic tells The Athletic. “He’s extremely intelligent, strong, technically excellent.

“When he played for Partizan, he was still in development and his main problem was strength in duels — he was weaker — but everything else was at a good level. He was in a talented group and Sasa was the least attractive, but the most valuable and more persistent. His talent was not disputed. He reached his true strength in Italy, becoming irreplaceable.

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“He was always smiling, but very serious. He’s the right choice for Fulham.”

He moved to Torino as a 19-year-old in the summer of 2016, signed by Serbian legend Sinisa Mihajlovic, who coincidentally had given Mitrovic his international debut three years earlier. Mihajlovic’s presence, along with team-mates Nikola Maksimovic and Adem Liajic, helped him adapt to Italy.

“When he first came to Torino, he was very shy,” says journalist Gianluca Sartori, who is the director of Toro News, an online magazine dedicated to the Turin club. “That affected the way he used to play. He used to play very simple, without taking risks. But over the years, he grew up as a man, and as a player too.

“His most notable moment was the goal against (city rivals) Juventus. It is the most important game of the year for Torino fans. From then, he was like another player.”

Lukic has worked under several coaches, namely Mihajlovic, Walter Mazzarri, Moreno Longo, Marco Giampaolo, Davide Nicola and now Juric, and spent his second Torino season on loan at Spanish side Levante. He played in a variety of systems but predominantly back-three setups, such as a 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1. Part of the 2020-21 season saw him deployed as an attacking midfielder by Giampaolo, and he scored in three successive games, but Lukic has mainly featured at the base of midfield.

“The coach that really believed in Sasa was Mazzarri,” says Sartori. “He was the first who really counted on him. Then Juric — Sasa played his best season under him.”

That was 2021-22, when Lukic scored five goals, provided four assists and forced himself into Serbia’s starting XI ahead of the World Cup.

Lukic was in the team as Mitrovic scored an iconic last-minute winner away to Portugal to help Serbia qualify for Qatar, providing an assist for their equaliser earlier in the game. “I will remember Mitrovic’s goal and the celebration in the dressing room for as long as I live,” he said in an interview last year.

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But what makes him stand out?

“He has defensive and attacking abilities,” says Sartori. “He’s developed to become a more complete midfielder. His technique is good. He’s able to read what’s happening on the field. He’s a smart player. He can shoot from distance. He takes penalties. He can do everything. He’s very underrated. In my opinion, he can play at the highest level.”

Smarterscout is a website that gives players’ games a series of ratings from zero and 99, a bit like the ratings in the FIFA video games but powered by real data and advanced analytics. These ratings relate to either how often a player performs a given stylistic action (for example, volume of shots per touch), or how effective they are at it (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield) compared with others playing in their position.

Its data shows Lukic is a player who can cover most bases. He appears to be a technical midfielder, a ball player who likes to link play, shuttling effectively between both boxes.

Stylistically, Lukic tends to make shorter passes rather than longer ones. His link-up play volume, which reflects passes that do not move the team 10m upfield, rates strongly at 74 out of 99. His progressive passes, which reflect the opposite type of pass, are rated way down at 19 out of 99.

For Torino at least, he was more of a tempo manager than a line-breaker.

Here is one excellent example. He takes the ball first time, dragging out a marker…

…then plays a one-two…

…before releasing the wing-back.

When he does break forward, it is often through dribbles — he rates 71/99 for carry and dribble volume, suggesting he does this frequently.

Here is one example. Lukic regains the ball…

…before surging forward…

…and laying off a pass to his striker, Antonio Sanabria.

Lukic can influence the final third.

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He shoots often (shot volume rating: 88/99), while his expected goals from ball progression (this metric deals with actions that increase the likelihood of scoring, such as crosses, through balls and driving runs) is valued at 78/99 — well above average for a Premier League-standard midfielder.

One standout game came against second-division Palermo in the Coppa Italia in August, where he scored with his weaker foot and also had an assist.

Overall, he appears to be a midfield conduit, with attributes more like a No 8 — Harrison Reed’s new role — than a No 6.

Lukic is not of the same profile as Joao Palhinha, as he does not disrupt play (he rates 40/99 for defending impact, suggesting he was not the main stopper in midfield and 15/99 for disrupting opposition moves, referring to tackles, fouls and blocks — aka, the Palhinha criteria). That is not to say he cannot tackle well; when he makes a challenge, he is effective, with a weighted duel rating of 60/99. His dribbling numbers are strong too, although his heading does not read well in the data…

“He can play in the three positions in midfield (No 10, No 8 and No 6),” Fulham head coach Marco Silva says. “It’s very good to have him for that. But we are looking at him as a No 8 — as a player that can be can be strong defensively but at the same time can arrive in (forward) areas, play between the lines if needed. He fits well into our system.”

Fulham wanted to improve the competition in midfield, and Lukic should offer that.

“I expect him to do very well,” says Sartori. “He can play at the right pace and Premier League matches are characterised by a high pace.

“Fulham bought him for a low fee, and were very smart to do this deal.”

(Top photo: Nicolo Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)