 Katai playing forRed Star Belgrade in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1991-02-06)6 February 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Srbobran,SR Serbia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2009 | Vojvodina | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | Vojvodina | 29 | (6) |
| 2009 | →Palić (loan) | 10 | (3) |
| 2011–2014 | Olympiacos | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | →OFI (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | →Vojvodina (loan) | 31 | (6) |
| 2013–2014 | →Platanias (loan) | 24 | (8) |
| 2014–2016 | Red Star Belgrade | 57 | (25) |
| 2016–2017 | Alavés | 23 | (3) |
| 2018–2020 | Chicago Fire | 62 | (18) |
| 2020 | LA Galaxy | 2 | (0) |
| 2020– | Red Star Belgrade | 151 | (90) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Serbia U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 2015– | Serbia | 13 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 November 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 16 November 2025 | |||
Aleksandar Katai (Serbian Cyrillic:Александар Катаи; born 6 February 1991) is a Serbian professionalfootballer who plays as awinger forRed Star Belgrade.
Katai started playing football for his hometown clubFK Vojvodina youth squad. After a six- month loan to lower league teamFK Palić at the start of 2009–10 season, he was promoted to Vojvodina's first team.[2] His debut in Serbian SuperLiga was on 14 March 2010, when he came in as substitute againstFK Čukarički, and he scored his first goal just seven days later in a match againstMladi Radnik. On 28 June 2011, he left FK Vojvodina and went toAthens to joinOlympiacos.[3]
On 24 June 2011, Olympiacos agreed to sign Katai on a four-year contract.[4] At his first trainings with the club, coachErnesto Valverde told Katai that he did not defend enough and that he needed to improve as a player.[5] Katai did not play a single match for Olympiacos, but was instead sent on loan four times.
He was first loaned toOFI, with whom he made his debut on 5 November 2011, againstPanionios.[6] The loan spell to Crete was unsuccessful, and so Olympiacos loaned him back to his hometown club FK Vojvodina. While on loan at Vojvodina, in 2012 after one game withSpartak Subotica, he fell very ill and was admitted to the hospital, where he was diagnosed withthrombocytopenia.[5] He had to have some blood removed, and stayed in the hospital for two weeks before he was allowed to finish his recovery from home.[5] During his recovery, he gained over 20 pounds, and he did not return to play football until the end of the year.[5] He remained a loaned player for Vojvodina until the club presidentRatko Butorović died unexpectedly on 8 June 2013, which led to a period of instability in the club during which Katai left.[7] He subsequently was loaned toPlatanias, for whom he scored a total of eight goals and six assists,[5] until his loan there expired in the summer of 2014.
"Katai's problem is not motivation, it's in his head, because maybe he did not want to return to Serbia. The boy trained for a month and a half until midnight [at Olympiacos], and they still didn't allow him to train properly. All they did was let him on the training field so he wouldn't sue them. He is a little angry..."
On 31 August 2014, in a last-minute deal before the transfer window closed, Katai devoted to a one-year loan toRed Star Belgrade.[9] Throughout autumn 2014, Katai was reported to be out of shape, and Red Star's coachNenad Lalatović was said to have claimed that Katai "had a problem in his head".[8]
On 18 June 2015, it was announced that Katai terminated his contract with Olympiacos and forgave a debt of €300,000 which was owed to him by Red Star from the loan contract, and subsequently signed a two-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.[10] For the 2015–16 season,Miodrag "Grof" Božović was hired as the new coach, and Katai played a good game againstKairat in thefirst qualifying round for theEuropa League, although Red Star failed to qualify. By the end of October 2015, Katai had scored 10 goals and made 6 assists in 15 league matches, ranking him one of the most effective midfielders in all of Europe at the time surveyed.[11]
Katai ended the season with the title of the best scorer of theSuperliga, scoring his 21st in the last round againstRadnički for the 27th title celebration.
In the first competitive match of the 2016–17 season, Katai scored an equalizer and assist for win againstValletta FC in the first match of thesecond qualifying round for theChampions League inValletta and winner in rematch, inBelgrade.[12] In the first game of the third round of qualification for the Champions League against BulgarianLudogorets Razgrad, Katai continued his goal-scoring series with a 12th consecutive goal, when he dribbled past three players and scored.[13] Red Star were ultimately eliminated.
On 31 August 2016, Katai signed a three-year contract withLa Liga sideDeportivo Alavés, for an undisclosed fee.[14]
On 6 February 2018, Katai was loaned by Alavés toChicago Fire ofMajor League Soccer. The loan was for the 2018 MLS season and included a purchase option at season's end.[15]
On 11 July 2018, the Chicago Fire acquired Katai on a permanent basis from Alavés for an unknown amount. The deal had Katai signed through the 2019 season, with a club option for 2020. It also had him remaining aTAM player for the 2018 season, but would change to aDP in 2019.[16]
On 31 December 2019, after leaving the Chicago Fire, Katai joined theLA Galaxy through the use of Targeted Allocation Money.[17] Katai was expected to be an important part of the Galaxy’s attack in 2020.[18]
Katai was released by LA Galaxy on 5 June 2020, following controversial Instagram posts by Katai's wife, Tea, in the wake of theGeorge Floyd protests andlooting across the United States.[19][20] Katai's wife, writing inSerbian, had compared protestors to "disgusting cattle", called for violent action against them in a caption under a photo ofNew York Police Department officers driving an SUV into a crowd of protesters ("shoot those shits"), and captioned an image of what appears to be a looter running off with boxes ofNike sneakers with "Black Nikes Matter".[21][22][23][24]
The LA Galaxy requested the removal of his wife’s posts and issued a statement condemning "racism of any kind".[21] Tea then took down the posts.[21] In an Instagram post, Katai condemned his wife's posts as "unacceptable", rebuked her insensitivity, issued a personal apology, and indicated his support for theBlack Lives Matter movement.[25][21][26][27] Two days after the team became aware of the wife's posts, which also was two days after his post condemning her statements, and following a day of protests against Katai, the LA Galaxy released him.[21][25]
On 9 July 2020, Katai signed a two-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.[28] On 31 May 2024, he extended his contract until 2026.[29]
Katai played two games forSerbia U21 national team. He made his debut forSerbia in a 4–1 friendly loss to theCzech Republic on 13 November 2015.[30] He earned a total of 10 caps (no goals) and his final international was a November 2020European Championship qualification match againstScotland.[31]
Born inSrbobran, a village in northern Serbia, his paternal grandfather was ofUkrainian origin and his grandmother wasHungarian. His surname isHungarian, adopted from his grandmother.[32]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Palić (loan) | 2009–10[2] | Serbian League Vojvodina | 10 | 3 | — | — | 10 | 3 | ||
| Vojvodina | 2009–10 | Serbian SuperLiga | 6 | 3 | — | — | 6 | 3 | ||
| 2010–11 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 27 | 4 | |||
| Total | 29 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | 33 | 7 | |||
| OFI Crete (loan) | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Vojvodina (loan) | 2011–12 | Serbian SuperLiga | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | 25 | 5 | |||
| Total | 31 | 6 | 7 | 0 | — | 38 | 6 | |||
| Platanias (loan) | 2013–14 | Super League Greece | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | 26 | 8 | |
| Red Star Belgrade (loan) | 2014–15 | Serbian SuperLiga | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 2 | |
| Red Star Belgrade | 2015–16 | Serbian SuperLiga | 33 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3[b] | 0 | 37 | 23 |
| 2016–17 | 4 | 2 | — | 6[c] | 4 | 10 | 6 | |||
| Total | 57 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 69 | 31 | ||
| Alavés | 2016–17 | La Liga | 20 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | 26 | 3 | |
| 2017–18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 23 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 30 | 3 | |||
| Chicago Fire | 2018 | MLS | 33 | 12 | 4 | 1 | — | 37 | 13 | |
| 2019 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 6 | |||
| Total | 62 | 18 | 4 | 1 | — | 66 | 19 | |||
| LA Galaxy | 2020 | MLS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Red Star Belgrade | 2020–21 | Serbian SuperLiga | 23 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 8[d] | 3 | 34 | 18 |
| 2021–22 | 31 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 12[e] | 6 | 47 | 33 | ||
| 2022–23 | 35 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 10[f] | 2 | 50 | 19 | ||
| 2023–24 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 5[g] | 1 | 33 | 12 | ||
| 2024–25 | 27 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 2[g] | 0 | 32 | 18 | ||
| 2025–26 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8[h] | 1 | 20 | 14 | ||
| Total | 151 | 90 | 20 | 11 | 45 | 13 | 216 | 114 | ||
| Career total | 391 | 159 | 47 | 15 | 53 | 17 | 491 | 191 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia | 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 13 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 November 2025 | Dubočica Stadium,Leskovac, Serbia |  Latvia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Red Star