Vitaly Janelt

RB Leipzig

After beginning his career with spells in the youth systems at Bargfelder SV, SSC Hagen Ahrensburg and Hamburger SV, Janelt joined the academy at RB Leipzig in 2014, for a fee reported to be €150,000. He signed a five-year professional contract in July 2016 and progressed to the reserve team, for which he made six Regionalliga Nordost appearances during the 2016–17 season. Prior to Janelt's departure from the Red Bull Arena at the end of the 2017–18 season, disciplinary issues led to him spending 18 months away on loan. He failed to win a call into a first team matchday squad during his time with RB Leipzig.

VfL Bochum

On 9 January 2017, Janelt joined 2. Bundesliga club VfL Bochum on loan until 30 June 2018, with an option to buy. He made 20 appearances during an injury-affected spell and signed a three-year contract with the club on 30 May 2018, for an undisclosed fee. Janelt looked set to make a breakthrough late in the 2018–19 season, before a torn adductor ruled him out of the final eight matches of the campaign. He broke into the first team in 2019–20, making 24 appearances during a season which was ended prematurely by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then in the final season of his contract, Janelt departed VfL Bochum in October 2020 and ended his 3+1⁄2 years at the Ruhrstadion with 54 appearances. In December 2021, Janelt stated that he "struggled to find consistency" during his spell with the club, exacerbated by playing under six different…

Janelt was capped by Germany at U15, U17, U19, U20 and U21 levels. He was a part of the Germany squads at the 2015 UEFA European U17 Championship and the 2015 U17 World Cup. Janelt made four appearances during the U21 team's successful 2021 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifying campaign. He made four substitute appearances during the team's successful finals campaign. On 25 September 2021, it was reported that German senior head coach Hansi Flick was present at one of Janelt's club matches. In a bid to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at senior international level, Janelt was granted Bosnian citizenship on 17 March 2025.

A defensive midfielder or "number eight", Janelt is "strong, versatile, commanding, composed in possession, possesses great awareness, is a good passer and an aggressive winner of the ball". He had also been deployed at centre back and left back. In 2024, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank described Janelt as "the go-to guy in so many ways. He is a very intelligent footballer, a fantastic character with leadership potential and he makes our team better".

Janelt's brothers Vincent and Victor are footballers in the German lower leagues. He became a Bosnian citizen in March 2025 and has a Bosnian wife, Ines Kovač, born in Sarajevo.