Stefan Kovač

Baltika's sporting director Armen Margaryan has publicly described the signing of Stefan Kovač as a tactical error. The midfielder arrived from Partizan on 1 July 2025 for €1.2 million on a five-year contract. He then found it hard to adapt to coach Talalaev's 3-4-3 system. He played 109 minutes in the Russian Premier League in 2025/26. In the Russian Cup against Zenit on 5 August 2026 he hit the post.

Kovač grew up in Belgrade and joined the Red Star academy in 2007. He stayed there for ten years. He made no senior appearances for the club. His first real senior football came on loan at IMT in 2018, where he played 26 matches and scored nine goals.

In January 2019 he moved to Čukarički on a free transfer and stayed until August 2024. He played 155 matches there and scored 14 goals. Partizan paid €350,000 for him on 15 August 2024. He played 29 matches for them and scored four goals before the move to Kaliningrad.

Kovač was born in Belgrade but plays for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played nine times for the under-17s and scored once. He added three appearances for the under-19s and two for the under-21s in 2020, scoring once in that under-21 spell.