Argjend Malaj (born 16 October 1993) is a Kosovar-Albanian professional footballer who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Swedish side

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is locate ...

Club career

Prishtina

Malaj joined

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...

in the summer transfer window of 2013 from

KF KEK FC KEK (FC KEK) is a football club based in Obilić, Kosovo. It was founded in 1928 and for most of the time played in the second tier, the First Football League of Kosovo, having reached promotion to Kosovo highest level in 2018.FC KEK won the K ...

at the age of 18 and he joined the first team at the club. In April, he went on a short trial with German giants

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

before returning to FC Prishtina to finish off the season with 15 league appearances and one goal.

Tirana

He signed a one-year contract with

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

club

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

on 3 July 2014, with the option of another year at the end of the season. He moved on a free transfer and his reported salary would be in the region of €24,000 and €30,000 a year. He made his debut with the club on the opening day of the 2014–15 Albanian Superliga campaign in a home tie against newly promoted side

Apolonia Fier KF Apolonia is an Albanian football club based in Fier. The club was founded on 17 June 1925 and took its name from the nearby ruins of the ancient city of Apollonia. The club currently compete in the Kategoria e Parë and they play their home ...

. Malaj came on as a 67th-minute substitute for forward

Mario Morina Mario Morina (born 16 October 1992) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Tirana 2010–11 season Morina made his début for Tirana on 3 November 2010 in an Albanian Cup fixture at home against Skrapari. Mo ...

in a game that ended in a 3–0 win. He made his first start for the club on 11 September against Vllaznia Shkodër, in a 1–1 draw which was infamously marred by crowd trouble which saw 13 people arrested and both clubs' fans receiving lengthy stadium bans. Malaj scored his first goal with Tirana on 24 January 2016, a match-winner against

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, and it is also one ...

in the first leg of the

2015–16 Albanian Cup 2015–16 Albanian Cup () was the sixty-four season of Albania's annual cup competition. KF Laçi are the most recent winners of the competition, that being their second Cup trophy. Ties are played in a two-legged format similar to those of Euro ...

's quarter-final. He left the team in June 2016 after couldn't reach an argument with the club directors for the new contract.

Skënderbeu Korçë

On 24 June, Malaj officially joined

Skënderbeu Korçë , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

on a free transfer, signing a contract until June 2019. He was presented on the same day along with Hektor Idrizaj. On 6 May 2017, during the league match against Vllaznia Shkodër at home, Malaj suffered an injury and was taken off the field by stretcher as the match finished 4–3 for the home side. Following the examinations, it was reported that Malaj had injured his left leg's ligament which requires surgery, ending thus his season. He successfully underwent surgery on 13 May.

International career

Malaj has expressed his desire to represent

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

internationally. Due to fierce competition, he was called up and decided to play for

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaj, Argjend 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Vushtrri Men's association football midfielders Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers KF KEK players FC Prishtina players KF Tirana players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players FC Kamza players FC Feronikeli 74 players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Kategoria Superiore players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Albania