Dejan Joveljić is Playing Chess, Not Checkers | OneFootball

Discussing everything from being the world’s best chess soccer player to racking up goals against his former teams, Dejan Joveljić sits down with us for a Q&A session.

It’s a warm spring night in Children’s Mercy Park, the clock is ticking towards halftime, and Sporting Kansas City is on the counterattack against LA Galaxy. Zorhan Bassong cuts out Joseph Paintsil’s pass before spraying a ball into the opposing half for Calvin Harris to chase down. Harris dishes it off to Dejan Joveljić, who zooms forward and squares up with Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.

Rather than trying to bend it one way or the other, Joveljić attempts an audacious chip, leaving Marcinkowski in his dust and doubling SKC’s lead en route to a 3-1 victory. It was SKC’s second win of the season, having previously beaten LA 2-1 courtesy of Joveljić’s opener, and it was the Serbian striker’s sixth goal of the year.

“It wasn’t that simple of a finish, but in that moment, that was the simplest finish for me,” Joveljić told Urban Pitch. “From the first moment, I knew what I’m gonna do, and it was a perfect, perfect hit.”

Joveljić has been an MLS mainstay since joining the Galaxy in 2021, but his football journey began with Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade, who he joined at the age of 9 and rose through the ranks as one of the club’s brightest prospects.

It’s why Eintracht Frankfurt selected Joveljić to replace his fellow countryman Luca Jović, who the club sold to Real Madrid, signing him for €4 million in 2019.

However, he struggled for minutes in Germany and was loaned out to Belgian club Anderlecht, but he failed to make an impact due to the league’s premature termination following the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Joveljić got back to his best in Austria with Wolfsberger AC, racking up a team-high 20 goals before deciding to take his talents to Los Angeles.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Joveljić quickly emerged as a key figure for LA Galaxy, scoring 45 goals and 16 assists in 123 appearances and leading them to the 2024 MLS Cup with vital contributions throughout. But it wasn’t enough to see him stay put in SoCal; instead, he joined Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2025 season for $4 million, marking the first cash-for-player trade in MLS history. So far, he’s more than justified that price tag, registering 24 goals in 47 appearances, earning himself a recall to the Serbian national team in March after 17 months.

Whenever he isn’t plying his trade for SKC and Serbia, Joveljić likes to pass his time with hobbies such as billiards, Rubik’s Cube (his personal best is 39 seconds), as well as chess. In 2023, he competed at the European Championships in Blitz Chess in Zagreb, Croatia, accumulating six points from 13 games. Chess.com called Joveljić “the world’s best chess soccer player” with a FIDE rating of 2217, and it’s why he partnered with the site to launch a Joveljić-themed bot on May 18, allowing anyone to challenge him to a game.

We caught up with Joveljić for a Q&A interview, discussing his pro journey, his unique off-pitch interests, and his experience representing his home nation on the international stage.

Urban Pitch: What was it like dealing with the pressure of playing at Red Star Belgrade and having to mature ahead of time? Would you say that that played an impact, not just in your technical development, but also your mental development?

Dejan Joveljić: Definitely, I agree. I moved to Red Star when I was 9 years old, and I lived there completely and finished school at 12. I just talked with the younger guys about that situation. I was living alone when I was 12 years old in Serbia, playing for the biggest club, where if you lose one game even at the youth level, you feel a lot of pressure.

Imagine how it feels when you play for Red Star’s first team. I mean, if you lose one or two games, you are fired, you are out of the team, and then it’s hard to come back. Definitely, because I moved very young, I grew up earlier, and I was mentally ready for the next steps.

Let’s talk a little bit about your non-football sports, because you have quite a few: Billiards, chess, Rubik’s Cube. In contrast to so many other kids who are just on their phone 24/7, you’re embracing a lot of old-school activities. How important have these hobbies been, specifically chess, for finding that balance off the pitch?

Yeah, definitely, from 15 to 20 years old, I was playing billiards almost every day after finishing my first training and second training. After that, I’d go play pool with my friends, one of whom was a Serbian champion many times. I also won a lot of amateur tournaments. After spending six months in Germany, I moved to Belgium on loan, where I played five games.

Everything was going great, Vincent Kompany was my coach, and at the same time, he was my teammate. Everything was amazing, but unfortunately, COVID happened. I was stuck in the apartment, I didn’t know what to do, and I decided to take chess lessons and German lessons. That’s how I was spending my time over there, and how I fell in love with chess.

Your time from Germany to Austria to Belgium seems like a blur; you arrived at an Eintracht Frankfurt side that was coming off a great season, you were heralded as the heir to Luka Jović’s throne. What exactly do you take away from that experience? How important was that in the overall trajectory of your career?

I started playing for Red Star at a very young age, and I was playing five, 10, 15 minutes, but sometimes, I’d start. I definitely needed more games in professional soccer to be ready for the next step. At that time, I was ready for the next step, but not Eintracht Frankfurt.

That step, maybe at that time, was too much for me, and that’s why I decided to go one step lower to Anderlecht to gain some minutes, and unfortunately, COVID came. After that, I went to Austria for a year, and I was very good there, I played in the Europa League, we advanced to the round of 32. I scored a lot of goals, and definitely I was prepared for a much bigger step after that.

MLS is gradually losing its reputation as a retirement league: you’re starting to see a lot of young talents like yourself making the move to MLS. What was your reaction when you heard that you’d be going to MLS and, overall, were there any difficult things about the transition from Europe to MLS?

Yeah, as you said, it’s not like that now. Five or 10 years ago, all of the older players were coming here to play, but right now, you can see a lot of talented players who, at 17, 18, 19, 20, are performing very well. We are going to see them playing on a much higher level than they currently play. At that time, it was very hard decision, because I was in Frankfurt, I was about to leave.

Eintracht hired a new coach and sporting director, and they wanted new players, which is okay. At that time, I had two offers from Saint-Ètienne and LA Galaxy. I thought, yes, it’s USA, it’s far from my home, but it’s a good, attractive league with a lot of goals, and it’s good for strikers.

That was a very easy decision for me compared to the French football. At the end, I’m happy: I won the title, I won the ring, and now I play in a great club with all the top conditions for development. I’m happy to be here and to play in this league, and to score, and to enjoy.

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What was it like becoming a champion and pretty much scoring every single game, regular season or playoffs? After a slow 2023, how important was it for your confidence to win the 2024 MLS Cup and for you to realize your potential?

I always had confidence, because I knew that I could score goals. Wherever I was playing, I was scoring goals. In my first few years in LA, I was next to Chicharito, and the coach liked the 4-3-3, and Chicharito was obviously the first choice. I had one slow year as well, like everyone in LA, but even in that year, I wasn’t a starter. In the very last year, I became the starting striker, and I showed what I can do, and we were so happy and lucky to win the ring.

What was your reaction when you heard that you’d be going from Los Angeles to Kansas City?

I was excited. Obviously, I couldn’t stay in LA because — it’s not my job now to talk about that, whoever wants to find a way can find one. At the end, I’m very happy, because I heard that SKC approached me, and that they wanted me here.

I was super excited because I knew all the guys and I was familiar with the coaches. To be honest, I was hating playing here against Sporting, because it’s so tough to play here. I was super excited, because I’m gonna be part of the team, so very positive things.

Back when you were at LA, you scored against SKC every single game. Now that you’re in SKC, you’re scoring against LA every single time. What is it about playing your former team that gets you going? Do you feel like you’re trying to prove a point that they should have kept you?

Yes and no, but I’m definitely more hungry. The feeling is different: when you play against your ex-teammates and ex-coach, you definitely want to show that you are that guy, that you can beat them, and that you can score from every chance you get. We were so lucky to win last night, it was such a great game, we played that game perfectly. I’m so proud of the guys, and especially the young guys who played, and they showed one more time that we count on them.

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

We’ve still got two-thirds of the 2026 season to go, but what has been your outlook of the team’s performance so far? What do you think are the biggest signs for optimism, and what do you think are the main things that SKC needs to work on as they look to return to the postseason?

We are not hiding. Everyone knows that the performance so far has been way below the bare minimum, it’s been bad. But games like yesterday showed us that we can be a good team, that we can win. Definitely, the last couple of weeks were so tough, we were on the ropes, but yesterday was our last wake-up call.

We have two more games before the break to win and get some points, and hopefully we will manage to win the games. Of course, this summer is gonna be big for us. I believe in the coach, I believe in this organization, that they’re going to do everything they can to bring the additional pieces who can help us to be in a race for the playoffs.

I don’t think that there’s a tougher position to play for Serbia than center forward. You’re competing against guys like Dušan Vlahović and Aleksandar Mirović, how do you like your chances of potentially starting one day?

Definitely, I can bring some qualities to Serbia’s attack, but it’s true that our strongest players are strikers. Players like Vlahović, who’s at Juventus, Mitrović, who’s in Qatar, and Luka Jović, who was at Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid, and who just won the Greek title with AEK Athens.

Those are three top players who are performing at a very high level over the years, so it’s hard to be in a position to be a starter there. But I’m happy when when I’m in a roster with them, and I know that I can help with the energy, and then with other stuff in the team.

Lastly, how do you feel like you are in terms of your current performance levels? Do you feel like you’re at the peak of your powers? And specifically, what are the main things you’re looking to improve on and achieve to make it a successful 2026?

Definitely, this is not my peak. I expect to play my best soccer when I’m 29-30, so this is all preparation to be top at that time. But, I just want to have good pieces around me, good, hungry players who are willing to work hard and to fight for this club. SKC is one of the best MLS clubs through the history, one of the clubs with the most trophies, top five for sure in MLS. In the last couple of years, it’s not been good enough. And our job is to bring this club where it belongs, it’s that simple.