Seferovic made his professional debut at Grasshopper in April 2009. Shortly afterwards, in January 2010, he was signed by Italian club Fiorentina. Much of his time at the latter club was spent out on loan, with a successful spell at Novara in Serie B, followed by a transfer to Real Sociedad of Spain in 2013. A year later, he joined German club Eintracht Frankfurt, with whom he spent three seasons before a transfer to Benfica in Portugal. He made over 180 appearances and scored over 70 goals for the club, winning the Bola de Prata for top scorer as the team won the Primeira Liga in 2018–19.
Seferovic began his career in 1999 on FC Sursee's youth team and after five years signed in the summer of 2004 for Luzern.[4] After three years in their youth teams, he was scouted by Grasshopper, and on 26 April 2009, he made his debut in the Swiss Super League against Neuchâtel Xamax.[5] In January 2010, he was named as the Youth Player of the Year in the canton Lucerne.[6]
Fiorentina
On 29 January 2010, Italian Serie A club Fiorentina signed Seferovic from Grasshopper for a €2.1 million transfer fee.[7][8] One day later, La Viola announced the deal was completed.[9] The youngster was assigned to Fiorentina's primavera team.[10] On 4 August 2011, Seferovic was loaned to Swiss Super League club Neuchâtel Xamax.[11]
On 27 January 2012, Seferovic was loaned to Serie A club Lecce during the January transfer window.[12] He spent the second half of the 2012–13 season with Novara of Serie B, scoring 10 goals in 18 matches, all as a starter. He scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Livorno on 17 April as Novara eventually finished in the play-offs.[13]
Real Sociedad
On 11 July 2013, Seferovic completed a move to Spanish La Liga club Real Sociedad on a four-year contract for a €2 million transfer fee.[14][15] He made his La Liga debut on 16 August 2013, and scored with a chip against Getafe, securing a 2–0 home victory.[16] Four days later, he scored a volley as Real Sociedad beat Lyon 2–0 away from home in the play-off qualification round for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League.[17] He played in 24 league matches in his first season, only nine as a starter, and scored his only other league goal as a substitute for Carlos Vela, wrapping up a 5–0 win over Osasuna on 2 November.[18] On 18 December, he scored Sociedad's third goal as the club defeated third-tier Algeciras 4–0 in the Copa del Rey's round of 32.
Seferovic was signed to partner Vela and Antoine Griezmann in Real Sociedad's attacking line. He had a difficult relationship with the fans, for posing with a whisky bottle after a draw with FC Barcelona in September, and for celebrating a goal by telling his team's fans to be quiet in November 2013.[19][20][21] He spent the night of his 22nd birthday in February 2014 in a police cell after a late-night argument with his girlfriend, with both being released without charges.[19][22] He arrived with comparisons to Darko Kovačević, a league runner-up with Real Sociedad in 2003, but did not capitalise on his early goals to cement a spot in the team.[23]
Eintracht Frankfurt
On 1 August 2014, Seferovic completed a move to German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, signing a three-year contract. The club said, "We intentionally chose a young player who already has a relatively high degree of experience, but who still has plenty of room for improvement."[24] He made his debut on 16 August, scoring the opening goal in the ninth minute as Frankfurt defeated fourth-tier Viktoria Berlin 2–0 away in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[25] One week later, he made his first Bundesliga debut and scored the only goal from Frankfurt's first attack of the game to defeat SC Freiburg at the Waldstadion.[26] In Frankfurt's 4–5 home defeat to VfB Stuttgart on 25 October, Seferovic was sent off for a second yellow card.[27]
In the 2015–16 Bundesliga, Seferovic scored only three times in 29 games as Frankfurt came 16th and were confined to a play-off against 1. FC Nürnberg to maintain their spot in the top flight. After a 1–1 draw in the first leg at home, he scored the only goal in the second to maintain his club's place.[28]
Seferovic received a three-match ban in February 2017 for striking Hertha BSC's Niklas Stark during a 2–0 loss in Berlin. It was Frankfurt's sixth dismissal of the season and he was also fined an undisclosed amount which was donated to charity.[29] He played four matches in the team's runner-up DFB-Pokal campaign, and scored the winning goal at Hannover 96 in the round of 16.[30]
Benfica
On 2 June 2017, Seferovic signed a five-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica.[31] He debuted on 5 August in the 2017 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, starting alongside Jonas and scoring the second goal in a 3–1 win over Vitória de Guimarães.[32] Four days later, he made his Primeira Liga debut in a 3–1 home win over Braga.[33] In October that year, he was praised by former Benfica footballer Nuno Gomes as a valuable player for the team.[34] In his first season with Benfica, Seferovic scored six times across all competitions, with every goal being scored in the first half of the season, after which he lost his role of supporting Jonas to Raúl Jiménez.[35][36]
Despite starting the 2018–19 season as the fourth attacking option of manager Rui Vitória, Seferovic became the team's top scorer on 11 January 2019, under the guidance of Bruno Lage.[36][37] Most notably, in the league season, Seferovic scored the winning goal in a 1–0 home victory over Porto,[38] netted the winner against Vitória de Guimarães away (0–1),[39] scored the first goal in a 4–2 away win over Sporting CP,[40] and netted a brace in a 10–0 thrashing of Nacional.[41] Internationally, he scored yet another winner, this time in a 2–1 win over Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 on 14 February, helping Benfica seal their first victory in Turkey.[37][42] With this goal, his 17th overall that season, he temporarily became the top scorer across all leagues in the world in 2019, with a 10-goal tally.[37] His 23 league goals earned him the Bola de Prata, making him the second Swiss player (after Alexander Frei) to be the top goalscorer in a foreign league.[43]
After his title-winning season, Seferovic signed a new contract lasting until 2024, and increasing his release clause to €60 million.[44] In 2019–20, his starts and goals decreased due to the dominance of the Brazilian Carlos Vinícius.[45] The following year, with the Brazilian loaned to Tottenham Hotspur, Seferovic returned to the forefront and scored 22 goals, one fewer than top scorer Pedro Gonçalves of Sporting.[46]
In 2021–22, Seferovic was limited by persistent muscular injuries throughout the season, including an absence of 13 games between January and March.[47][48][49]
Loan to Galatasaray
On 19 June 2022, Seferovic joined Galatasaray on a season-long loan for €1 million, with an option to make the move permanent for €2.5 million.[50][51] He made his debut as a starter on 7 August as the Süper Ligseason began with a 1–0 win at Antalyaspor.[52] He scored his first goal on 19 October in a Turkish Cup third round 7–0 win over Kastamonuspor 1966, and added another in the next round on 8 November as the Istanbul side came from behind to beat Ofspor 2–1.[53]
In 2013, ahead of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team's match against Slovenia, Seferovic claimed he wanted to play for the country of his parents' birth.[59] However, he later accepted a call-up from Switzerland, and made his debut in a friendly against Greece on 6 February 2013, where he replaced Mario Gavranović for the last 20 minutes of the 0–0 away draw.[60] On his third cap, on 8 June 2013, he replaced Josip Drmić for the last 15 minutes, and in injury time, scored the only goal of a home 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cyprus.[61]
On 2 June 2014, Seferovic was named in Switzerland's 2014 World Cup squad by head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.[62][63] In the team's first match, on 15 June in Brasília against Ecuador, he replaced Drmić for the last 15 minutes and scored the winner in the third minute of stoppage time.[64]
In qualification for UEFA Euro 2016, Seferovic scored three goals, including two in the first half of a 4–0 win away to San Marino that was Swiss' first victory of the campaign.[65] Manager Vladimir Petković chose him in the 23-man squad for the finals in France.[66]
Seferovic added four more goals as the Swiss qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with two in a 3–0 win over Andorra in St. Gallen on 31 August 2017.[67] Petković named him for the squad to compete in the finals in Russia.[68]
On 31 May 2021, Seferovic was called up to play in the Euro 2020. On 28 June 2021, he played in the last 16 game against France and scored two headers, as the team drew 3–3 and won on penalties.[71] The following 12 June, he headed the only goal in 57 seconds as the team beat leaders Portugal in the Nations League.[72] He made three brief substitute appearances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where the Swiss were eliminated by the Portuguese in the last 16.[73][74][75]
^Ramajo, Roberto (2 November 2013). "Seferovic marca y manda callar" [Seferovic scores and tells them to shut up]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
^"Águia voa em Istambul" [Eagle flies in Instanbul] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^Délèze, Thierry (17 November 2009). ""Ma copine m'a beaucoup manqué"" ["I missed my girlfriend a lot"]. 20 minutes (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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