The Serbian joined Bournemouth on deadline day, and perhaps wasn’t expected to come straight into the team, but a knock to Bafode Diakite forced Andoni Iraola’s hand.
Match report:
But the young centre back stepped up to the plate – and looked confident and assured as the Cherries beat Brighton 2-1.
A towering physical presence at such a young age, Milosavljevic proved to be something of a man mountain at the back, and was solid, making nine clearances, of which six were headed.
(Image: Richard Crease)
An interception and three recoveries, and not being dribbled past once, contributed to a strong defensive performance from the teenager.
Milosavljevic was also a threat at the other end, causing some trouble for the Brighton defence from set pieces with his height.
The Serbian rewarded Iraola’s trust in him, making an impressive debut, when the Basque boss could have opted for James Hill at centre back and either Julian Araujo or Alex Jimenez at right back.
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But Iraola started Milosavljevic – and said he was impressed with his performance, also praising Jimenez, who came off the bench for Hill late on as the Seagulls sought an equaliser.
“[I’m] very, very pleased,” Iraola told the Daily Echo.
“Obviously when you decide to start him it’s because you've liked what you’ve seen from him in trainings. I think he trained first with us just Wednesday.
“So basically has had three trainings and sometimes it’s risky but we have to see also what he has.
(Image: Richard Crease)
“Very happy also for Alex because Alex came on in a difficult moment.
“You are winning 2-1, you are against Mitoma 80th minute and I think he finished really well the game and it's good that we can integrate new players to the ones that were previously playing with us.”