Gëzim Shalaj

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Gëzim Shalaj
Personal information
Full name Gëzim Shalaj[1]
Date of birth (1990-07-28) 28 July 1990 (age 33)[2]
Place of birth Bern, Switzerland[2]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger; attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Naters
Number 19
Youth career
2000–2008 Dynamo Dresden
2008–2009 Düdingen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Düdingen 14 (2)
2010–2012 Kriens 49 (4)
2012 → Luzern (loan) 1 (0)
2012–2014 Lugano 46 (5)
2014–2015 Pandurii Târgu Jiu 27 (3)
2015–2016 Dinamo București 7 (0)
2016 Enosis Neon Paralimni 5 (1)
2016–2017 Port Vale 7 (0)
2018–2019
Trepça'89
2019 Breitenrain Bern
2019– Naters
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Gëzim Shalaj (born 28 July 1990) is a Swiss footballer of Albanian descent who plays as a midfielder for Swiss 1. Liga club FC Naters.

He began his career with Swiss lower league side

Trepça'89 in the Superleague of Kosovo in January 2018, before returning to Switzerland the following year to play for Breitenrain Bern
and Naters.

Career

Switzerland

Shalaj was born in

Stadion Kleinfeld.[7] He went on to become a first-team regular in the 2010–11 season, missing just one league game, though 11 of his league appearances were as a substitute. He began the 2011–12 season with three goals in 14 games, before he was signed to Swiss Super League side Luzern by manager Murat Yakin.[8]

"Gëzim is a young and talented footballer who has shown what he can do in Kriens. That is why we loaned him to see what he is capable of at a higher level."

—Luzern coach Murat Yakin shares his first impression for Shalaj.[8]

However, he struggled with injuries and played just one top-flight game for the "Luminaries", coming on as a half-time substitute for Nelson Ferreira in a 2–1 defeat by Servette at Stade de Genève on 11 March 2012.[8][9] He returned to the Challenge League for the 2012–13 campaign, joining Lugano. He scored four goals in 20 matches as Lugano finished seventh in the 2012–13 season, and then scored one in 27 appearances in the 2013–14 campaign as the club posted a second-place finish, nine points behind promoted champions Vaduz. He received the first red card of his career on 14 May 2014, in a 3–0 win over Locarno at Stadio del Lido.[10] Both he and teammate Jonathan Sabbatini were contacted by betting fraudsters who wanted to rig a match, but Shalaj and Sabbatini reported the incident to the Swiss Football Association.[4]

Romania

Shalaj signed a one-year

Stadionul Municipal on 15 March.[3][12] The goal against Steaua București saw him named on the Liga I team of the week, alongside his midfield teammates Mihai Pintilii, Mihai Roman, and Dan Nistor.[13] He played three matches of the club's run to the 2015 Cupa Ligii final, including a substitute appearance against Dinamo București in the first leg of the semi-final.[14]

He joined Dinamo București in October 2015.[5] He played 169 minutes across seven games before he had his contract cancelled by mutual agreement in December 2015.[15][16]

Enosis Neon Paralimni

Shalaj moved to

Tsirion Stadium.[17] The club were relegated at the end of the 2015–16
season.

Port Vale

In August 2016, Shalaj signed a one-year contract with EFL League One club Port Vale.[18] Manager Bruno Ribeiro said that Shalaj was "very strong for English football" but would need time to build his fitness as he missed out on pre-season training.[19]

Later career

On 8 January 2018, Shalaj joined the defending

Trepça'89.[20] He returned to his native country to sign for Swiss Promotion League side Breitenrain Bern at the end of the 2018–19 season. Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Shalaj joined Swiss 1. Liga side FC Naters.[21]

Style of play

Speaking in July 2012, Luzern manager Murat Yakin described Shalaj as "very fast" with a "strong left foot".[8] Speaking in September 2016, Shalaj said that "I am left-footed, I play on the wing and I like to cross, I like to go one against one and get balls into the striker".[22]

Career statistics

Club Season Division League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Düdingen 2009–10[5]
1. Liga
 14 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2
Kriens 2009–10[23] Swiss Challenge League 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
2010–11[23] Swiss Challenge League 29 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 30 1
2011–12[23] Swiss Challenge League 13 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 3
Total 49 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 51 5
Luzern (loan) 2011–12[23] Swiss Super League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Lugano 2012–13[23] Swiss Challenge League 20 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 4
2013–14[23] Swiss Challenge League 26 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 27 1
Total 46 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 47 5
Pandurii Târgu Jiu 2014–15[23] Liga I 27 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 33 3
Dinamo București 2015–16[23] Liga I 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Enosis Neon Paralimni 2015–16[23] Cypriot First Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Port Vale 2016–17[24] EFL League One 7 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Career total 156 15 7 1 3 0 1 0 167 16
  1. ^ Appearances and goals in the Swiss Cup, Cupa României, and FA Cup.
  2. ^ Appearances and goals in the Cupa Ligii, EFL Cup, and EFL Trophy.

References

  1. ^ "List of players under written contract registered between 01/08/2016 and 31/08/2016" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 33. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/2017". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Mijlocaşul elveţian Gezim Shalaj va evolua la Dinamo". Mediafax (in Romanian). Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Gezim Shalaj – Im Osten viel Neues | News | News | Swiss Football League". www.sfl.ch (in German). 22 December 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Gezim SHALAJ la Dinamo". www.fcdinamo.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Lausanne Sport vs. Kriens – 7 March 2010 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Kriens vs. Locarno – 15 May 2010 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Spirig, Jonathan (16 July 2012). "Ein vergessener Berner sorgt im Tessin für Furore". bernerzeitung.ch/ (in German). Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Servette vs. Luzern – 11 March 2012 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Locarno vs. Lugano – 14 May 2014 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Shalaj tente l'aventure roumaine". www.sfl.ch (in German). 3 July 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Pandurii Târgu Jiu vs. Steaua Bucureşti – 15 March 2015 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Echipa etapei a 21-a în viziunea ProSport. Primul "11", dominat de jucătorii Pandurilor. Fotbalişti de la Dinamo, Rapid şi Petrolul printre remarcaţi". Pro Sport (in Romanian). 15 March 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Pandurii Târgu Jiu vs. Dinamo Bucureşti – 17 February 2015 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  15. ^ "OFICIAL. Mulțumim, Gezim Shalaj! – Revista FC Dinamo | FC Dinamo București". www.fcdinamo.ro (in Romanian). 18 December 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Începe "curăţenia de iarnă" la Dinamo. Clubul s-a despărţit de trei jucători astăzi: Shalaj, Feussi şi Abraham". Mediafax (in Romanian). 18 December 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  17. ^ "AEL vs. Enosis – 6 February 2016 – Soccerway". au.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Port Vale sign Miguel Santos and Gezim Shalaj". BBC Sport. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  19. ^ Baggaley, Mike (6 September 2016). "Port Vale: Bruno Ribeiro excited about Gezim Shalaj". The Sentinel. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  20. ^ "Super Ekskluzive: Trepça'89 bombardon merkaton e janarit me këtë futbollist [VIDEO]". Korneri (in Albanian). 8 January 2018.
  21. ^ Fussball: "Gut unterwegs mit Luft nach oben", rro.ch, 2 August 2019
  22. The Staffordshire Sentinel
    . Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gëzim Shalaj at Soccerway
  24. ^ "Games played by Gëzim Shalaj in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 September 2016.

External links

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