Zdravko Kuzmanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Здравко Кузмановић, pronounced [zdrǎːʋko kuzmǎːnoʋitɕ]; born 22 September 1987) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a defensive or central midfielder. He last played for FC Basel. He represented Serbia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Born in Thun, Switzerland to a Bosnian Serb expat father Ljubo who had played football professionally and homemaker mother Petra, Zdravko grew up with a younger sister Nakica.
During early adolescence, Kuzmanović followed in his father's footsteps by pursuing organized football. He first joined the Dürrenast and Young Boys academies before moving to Basel.
Kuzmanović started his professional career at Basel.
He was promoted to first team in 2005–06 season and also played for Basel II at 1. Liga that season. Kuzmanović scored his first goals for Basel in the second round of the Swiss Cup, in a 6–1 win over BSC Old Boys. Kuzmanović scored two more goals later in the season. Following his good performance, he was reported by UEFA as one of the most interesting young players in Europe and was awarded with the Swiss Golden Player Award for season 2006.
The 2006–07 season started well for Kuzmanović. He established himself in the first team and scored his first league goal of the season on 13 August 2006, in a 4–1 win over Thun. By the first half of the 2006–07 season, Kuzmanović had made twenty–eight appearances and scored five times in all competitions.
In early 2007, Kuzmanović was approached by Palermo, but the negotiations with the Rosaneri stopped abruptly. On 30 January 2007, at the age of 19, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with ACF Fiorentina after learning its midfielder Marco Donadel would be away for about two months because of a calf injury. The move was controversial when Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini and sporting director Rino Foschi accused Fiorentina of 'misconduct' by describing their director of football Pantaleo Corvino as a 'jackal'. In response, Corvino said "better jackal than chicken" before reaffirming the correctness of his actions. In an interview for the club's official website years later, Kuzmanović explained how his move to Palermo fell through.
I did not like Zamparini. It was him and the tall bald guy [Foschi, ed] [...] plus a girl for the translation. They gave me only five minutes, said they had to return to Italy. The contract was not good but how could I decide quickly? I said am I important or not? If I am you can not do it all in five minutes. They did not answer, I closed it there: Take the plane, I'm going home. Then one day my agent called and said Fiorentina want you, they are a great club and are serious about you. I said yes immediately.
After being on the substitute bench for most of the matches, he played his first Serie A match for Fiorentina in a 5–1 win over against Torino on 4 March 2007. In his first half of the season at Fiorentina, Kuzmanović went on to make three more appearances.
In his first full season at Fiorentina, Kuzmanović managed to established himself in the first team and then scored his first goal for the club against Catania on 17 February 2008. In the UEFA Cup campaign knockout stage in the quarter-final against Everton, Kuzmanović scored his first European goal in a 2–0 win in the first leg. In the second leg, Everton managed to catch up with a 2–0 win, resulting an extra time and the game played on the penalties, which Fiorentina won 4–2. Kuzmanović ended the 2007–08 season making forty–eight appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
The following season, on 14 October 2008, Kuzmanović signed a contract with the club that would keep him until 2013. Kuzmanović ended the 2008–09 season, making forty–one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
During his time at the club, Kuzmanović went on to become an integral first team player for Fiorentina, notching up over 70 Serie A appearances and featuring in their successful European competition runs.
On 31 August 2009 on the transfer deadline, Kuzmanović signed a four-year contract with VfB Stuttgart worth £7million.
On 12 September 2009, Kuzmanović made his Stuttgart debut, playing 22 minutes, in a 3–1 loss against Hamburg. Kuzmanović also made his Champions League debut for Stuttgart in a 1–3 defeat at home to Sevilla on 20 October 2009 and later scored his first Champions League goal in the return leg when Sevilla and Stuttgart played a 1–1 draw. Then on 21 November 2009, Kuzmanović scored his first goal for Stuttgart in a 1–1 draw against Hertha BSC, but was sent–off later in the game. Kuzmanović established himself in the starting eleven, taking the first team place from Thomas Hitzlsperger and made thirty–four appearances and scoring five times in all competitions despite injury.
Kuzmanović managed to regain his first team place and started the 2010–11 season well when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 7–0 thrash victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach on 18 September 2010, Kuzmanović’s performance soon attracted interests from Serie A clubs, but he played down rumours of leaving Stuttgart, insisting he was happy to stay at Stuttgart. In the round of 64, the second leg in the Europa League campaign against Benfica, Kuzmanović received a straight red card in stoppage time, as Stuttgart would not only lose for the second time against them, but being eliminated from the Europa League campaign. The 2010–11 season saw Kuzmanović making forty-seven appearances and scoring eleven times in all competitions.
In the 2011–12 season, transfer speculation to sign Kuzmanović continued when English side Chelsea had their 23 million bid turned down. Kuzmanović started the season by making seven appearances, including his first goal of the season as Stuttgart won 3–0 against Hannover 96 on 10 September 2011 before suffering a hamstring injury, which caused him to miss two matches. He then returned in mid-October and scored on his return on 22 October 2011, in a 2–2 draw against Nürnberg. Kuzmanović finished the 2011–12 season, making twenty–nine appearances and scoring six times in all competitions.
In the 2012–13 season, Kuzmanović had featured less at the start of the season, having suffered a torn muscle in his right thigh. On 24 September 2012, it was announced that Kuzmanović expected to leave the club at the end of the 2012–13 season after there were contract talks between the player and the club. After that, he was often playing out of position, both in substitution and starts. In December 2012, Kuzmanović's relationship with the club turned sour and beyond repair when contract talks broke down.
On 31 January 2013, Kuzmanović moved to Italian side Internazionale for an undisclosed fee.