Vanja Dragojevic was raised amid the bedlam of Belgrade, and Rangers nine-in-a-row hero Gordon Petric is convinced the new Ibrox signing will handle the Old Firm frenzy too. Born in the battle-scarred former Yugoslav capital, the 20-year-old Serbian came through Partizan's academy, the same production line that has produced Aleksandar Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic and Stevan Jovetic. Rangers hope the £4.3million midfielder will become the latest to graduate to the heights reached by those Premier League stars. Petric believes his upbringing, including exposure to the Eternal Derby against Red Star, gave him the education needed to survive in Glasgow. Dragojevic featured in only four first-team showdowns before his move, but that brief taste taught him vital lessons.
Schooled by the Belgrade derby
The former Ibrox centre-back told Record Sport: "I spoke with Vanja and I told to him where is good to eat and how Rangers is my club and how Glasgow is my city! But it's not important if I spoke with Vanja or not. It's now down to him. He has the chance every day to learn about life with one of the two big clubs, Rangers and Celtic. He has already dealt with these types of things here in Serbia. Partizan and Red Star are the clubs that are always at the top. It's like Rangers and Celtic, always fighting for the trophies. In that way Glasgow is similar to Belgrade. That will be a big advantage to him."
Partizan's fall and youth reset
Like Rangers, Partizan have fallen on hard times and found themselves in the shadow of their bitter local rivals. After winning eight league titles in a decade, the Steam Rollers have now gone nine years without a Serbian championship and finished third as Red Star celebrated their own nine-in-a-row triumph.
Petric knows the situation first-hand. He played 140 times for Partizan before moving to Scotland in 1993, where he went on to represent Dundee United, Rangers and Hearts. He later returned to Partizan Stadium as manager in August 2022, but lasted only 30 games before resigning after admitting he had lost senior figures in the dressing room. Since then, the Black-and-Whites have turned to their youth academy to clear out malcontents, and that policy saw Dragojevic given a first-team place and the captain's armband at the age of 19.
"Last season Partizan decided to put the young players on the pitch," Petric explained. "Vanja was one of those young players. He's talented, he worked his way up through al the Partizan academy classes from the youths to the first team. He was among seven or eight youngsters aged 18, 19, 20 in the starting line up last year, it really was quite a young team. Vanja was made the captain because of the ability and leadership he showed not just on the the pitch. He's played a lot of games for Partizan over the last year and a half and you should know it's not easy to play for clubs like Partizan Belgrade and Red Star. It's exactly the same as being at Rangers and Celtic. Most of these players produced sometimes but Vanja was one of the players who produced for every single game and who became better and better.
"If you ask me now, can Vanja be a good player for Scottish football? Yes, but he needs time, like everybody, he needs to adapt to the Scottish system and to Scottish football. But what will work for him is that Rangers is a big club, just like Belgrade is a big club. It's no problem for him to step up as both clubs are big. He only has to adapt to Scottish football. He played last year against Hibernian in Europe. So he has some good information about Scottish football from those two games, home and away."
Patience at Ibrox
Dragojevic got another taster on Friday night when he watched from the bench as Rangers opened the Premiership season with a disappointing 1-1 draw at Tannadice. Petric reckons his old Ibrox pal Derek McInnes will be keen to thrust him into action soon, but he has pleaded for patience while the youngster finds his feet in Scotland.
"I don't know what Derek wants to do with him, but probably the best position for Vanja is the midfielder in front of the two centre-halves. He has the ability to pass the ball, he has good technique, he has the ability to run and to be aggressive when needed. He's a good person, he's a good professional. That's why he's been the skipper here in Belgrade. How far can he go in his career? How would I know? If I knew, I'd go and put a bet on straight away! But listen, he has a chance. He has the chance to play every week, to play good games for a big club and he has the chance to produce. He has a lot of time in front of him because he's a young player. It's up to him now to try to adapt and to produce. But Derek must be patient with the foreign players when he arrives to the a big club. When I arrived in Scotland, I had one year with Dundee United under a Serbian coach in Ivan Golac. For me, it became much easier and after one year, which is when I moved to Rangers."
Petric backs a Scottish core
Petric and McInnes spent three years together before the big defender left for Crystal Palace, and Petric is pleased to see his former team-mate back at Ibrox.
"I am here in Serbia but I still watch Scottish football a lot. And what I see is that you need to give chances at Rangers to the Scottish guys. Derek is a typical Rangers guy, a good guy, a good coach. He's shown he's a good coach over the last ten years, producing results every year. But for me clubs like Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, Hibs, they need to have more Scottish people on the team and Scottish people around the clubs. When I moved to Scotland, there were more and more foreign players moving to the country but the reason why I became better was having so many Scottish people around me."
