Azdren Gani Llullaku (born 15 February 1988) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Llullaku was born on 15 February 1988 in

Istok Istog or Istok ( sq-definite, Istog, Istogu, sr, Исток, ''Istok'') or Burim is a town and municipality located in the District of Peja of western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the city of Istog has 5,115 inhabitants, while the munici ...

. Due to the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

, at age of 12 Llullaku moved to Italy along with his mother and his brother, settling in

Tarzo Tarzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about north of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,671 and an area of .All demographics and othe ...

in the

Province of Treviso The Province of Treviso ('' it, Provincia di Treviso'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the so ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. He began his youth career with A.C. Vallata 1999, a team of the third category, the lowest level of "amateur" football in Italy.

Italian lower divisions

In the regional competitions, Llullaku revealed himself to be a talented goalscorer and he was recruited by Denis Florin, sporting director of

Conegliano Conegliano (; Venetian: ''Conejan'') is a town and ''comune'' of the Veneto region, Italy, in the province of Treviso, about north by rail from the town of Treviso. The population of the city is of people. The remains of a 10th-century castle ar ...

, which played in

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Ao ...

at that time. Llullaku accepted with enthusiasm and in the 2005–06 season, he started playing with the juniors team, and after ten matches, in December 2005 he transitioned into the senior team by

Umberto Trinca Umberto is a masculine Italian given name. It is the Italian form of Humbert. People with the name include: * King Umberto I of Italy (1844–1900) * King Umberto II of Italy (1904–1983) * Prince Umberto, Count of Salemi (1889–1918) * Umberto I ...

and at 17, he scored three goals in 18 matches, helping to avoid a difficult relegation but especially stood out as a player deserving to be a professional. He moved into

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

, joining

A.S.D. Sacilese Calcio Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Sacilese Calcio is an Italian association football club located in Sacile, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. At the end of the 2010–11 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season, the club was relegated to Serie D where it ...

in 2006. In the 2006–07 Season he made a total of 31 appearances and scored eight goals. In the summer of 2007, Llullaku joined

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

side

Südtirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

. In the 2007–08 season he made a total of 12 appearances. In 2008, he joined Serie D side Domegliara. In the 2008–09 season he made a total of 33 appearances and scored 11 goals. He returned in 2009 to the previous team Sacilese in

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

(previous name

) but didn't made any appearances for entire 2009–10 season due to the law that prohibits the enrollment of non-EU citizens. This made him move to

Tamai The Battle of Tamai (or Tamanieh) took place on 13 March 1884 between a British force under Sir Gerald Graham and a Mahdist Sudanese army led by Osman Digna. Despite his earlier victory at El Teb, Graham realised that Osman Digna's force was ...

in Serie D. In the 2010–11 season, he made a total of 33 appearances and scored 22 goals. In February, he was elected by the statistics of the

Corriere dello Sport ''Corriere dello Sport'' is an Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome, Italy. It is one of three major Italian sports daily newspapers and has the largest readership in central and southern Italy, the fourth most read throughout the co ...

as the best striker in the

and is placed in the Top 11 Serie D. ;SandonàJesolo In 2011, he joined fellow Venetian team SandonàJesolo. On 25 September 2011, Llullaku scored by penalty the opening goal in the victory 2–0 against San Giorgio. Later on 18 December, Llullaku scored hat-trick to give the clean 3–0 victory SandonàJesolo against I.S.M. Gradisca. In the 2011–12 season he made a total of 30 appearances and scored 13 goals. SandonàJesolo finished in the 6th place in the final rank and qualified for the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the

Promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

as the finalist of 2011–12 Coppa Italia Serie D and were shorted to play against

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

. First play-off match against Arezzo played on 27 May 2012 finished in the goalless draw, and then was decided by penalty shoot-out as SandonàJesolo won it by 3–4 result. SandonàJesolo advanced to the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

where they played against Legnago Salus on 3 June 2012 and won the match with the 2–0 result, in which also Llullaku scored the closing goal in the 51st minute after an personally attack himself. SandonàJesolo managed to get in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

and they played against

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

, where Llullaku scored the second goal advantage but not enough to win the game as Cosenza came from behind to win the match by the 3–2 result. Llullaku also managed to play in the

Coppa Italia Serie D Coppa Italia Serie D (Italian for Serie D Italian Cup) is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie D in Italian football. The competition is held since the 1999–2000, when Serie D clubs split from Coppa Italia Dilettant ...

with SandonàJesolo in the 2011–12 season. SandonàJesolo played in a two-legged match for the semi-final against

Bogliasco Bogliasco ( lij, Boggiasco) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa. Together with the ''comuni'' of Camogli, Recco, Pieve Ligure and Sori, it is part of t ...

and the first leg was won by the 1–0 home result, then in the second leg SandonàJesolo lost by the 2–1 result and they qualified due to the away goals rule, where the only away goal was scored by Llullaku himself. They advanced to the final and Llullaku also played in a 2–1 loss for the cup final match against

Sant'Antonio Abate Sant'Antonio Abate ( nap, Sant'Antuono) is a ''commune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 30 km southeast of Naples. Sant'Antonio Abate borders the following municipalities: Ang ...

. At the end of the 2011–12 season many professional clubs like

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

and

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

wanted to buy Llullaku but his foreign players status didn't help him.

Gaz Metan Mediaș

After spend 6 years at

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, on 24 July 2012 after a trial, Llullaku signed for Romanian top division side Gaz Metan Mediaș. Llulaku made his competitive debut on 24 August 2012 during the league match against

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

, coming on as a substitute in an eventual 2–0 home win. He netted his first goal for the team on 1 December in the match against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

, giving his team a 1–1 draw. Llullaku started 2013 by scoring a goal in team's 3–1 win over Gloria Bistrița on 22 February, which was followed by a brace in the 4–1 home win against Viitorul Constanța. Llullaku was again decisive for his team by scoring the lone goal in the match against

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

, giving his team three important points. That was his final strike of the season, as he finished it by playing 22 matches between league and cup, scoring five in the process. Lullaku lost his place in the starting lineup during the 2013–14 season, making only nine league starts. He scored his first goal of the season on 26 July in the league encounter against

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Western Moldavia, Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. ...

, finished in a 1–2 defeat. On 25 September 2013, he scored twice in Gaz Metan Mediaș' 0–4 win over Petrolul Ploiești in the

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

. The 2013–14 season was a bad one for Llullaku; he scored only one league goal in 28 appearances, in addition two

goals in two matches. Llullaku started 2014–15 season by playing the entire match against

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

for the quarter-finals of 2014–15 Romanian Cup, which finished in a 1–0 defeat in extra-time. He made his first league appearance for this season on 27 July 2014 in the 3–0 away win over Botoșani. Lullaku scored his first goal of the season on 8 August, a last-minute equalizer against

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

in the matchday 3 to give his side a 1–1 draw. On 12 September, during the 3–1 loss against Steaua București in which Llullaku scored his team's only goal, he got injured after just kicked the ball cause of an accident collision with opponent player. On 5 December, in the matchday 17 against

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

, Llullaku scored a brace inside first five minutes to give his team a 2–1 win in the last match of 2014. The new year found him injured, as he return to play in the team only in March, playing for 59 minutes in the match against Rapid București, which ended in a 1–0 defeat. He scored his first goal of 2015 on 14 March in the 1–1 draw against

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

. Llullaku concluded the 2014–15 season with 30 appearances, 16 as a starter and 14 as a substitute in which he scored 8 goals but Gaz Metan Mediaș got relegated as they were ranked in the 13th place of the table, a place which was the higher of the rank which would result relegation. Llullaku remained at Gaz Metan Mediaș for the 2015–16 season, where he made his

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

debut on 29 August 2015 in the opening day against

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

. He scored his first goal of campaign on 11 September in the 1–1 home draw against Șoimii Pâncota. Later that month, Llullaku scored his second goal of the season, a 91st-minute penalty, helping his side to earn a 3–3 home draw against

Mioveni Mioveni () is a town in Argeș County, Romania, approximately 15 km (9 miles) north-east of Pitești. , it had a population of 31,998. The town administers four villages: Clucereasa, Colibași, Făgetu and Racovița. History It was fir ...

. On 13 January 2016, Llullaku left Gaz Metan Mediaș after three-and-a-half seasons where he managed to score 17 goals in 93 league appearances. He announced via his official

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

profile that he has terminated his contract with the club by mutual consensus, being a free agent.

CSMS Iași

Llullaku returned to

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

as he signed with CSMS Iași on 30 January 2016. He made his debut on 13 February 2016 against Viitorul Constanța coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute in place of Nuno Viveiros. During the second part of 2015–16 season, Llullaku made 14 league appearances, including 9 as a starter, collecting 698 minutes, but failed to score a single goal, as CSMS Iași finished the season in the 7th position.

Return to Gaz Metan Mediaș

Astana

On 24 December 2016, Llullaku signed a 2-year contract with Kazakh

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

, on a free transfer. His new salary would be from €50K and in the 2017–18 season he has secured a participation in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League - Second qualifying round. He made his debut on 4 March 2017 in the

Kazakhstan Super Cup The Kazakhstan Super Cup ( kk, Қазақстан Суперкубогы, ''Qazaqstan Sýperkýbogy'') is a one-match football annual competition. The two participating clubs are the Kazakhstan Premier League champion and the Kazakhstan Cup winner ...

against Kairat playing as a starter. He scored his first goal in his 4th match in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

on 17 March 2017 against Akzhayik. Llullaku scored the 2nd goal in the 13th minute and the match finished in the 3–1 victory.

Loan to Tobol

On 2 July 2017 Llullaku was loaned to fellow

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

side

FC Tobol FC Tobol ( kk, Тобыл футбол клубы, Tobyl Futbol Kluby) is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Kostanay. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992. They ...

for 6 months. He debuted 8 days later in the matchday 19 against Irtysh Pavlodar playing as a starter and becoming protagonist of the match. In the 82nd minute after a cross from the right side, Llullaku did a header which was deflected into the goal by opponents defender Carlos Fonseca and this goal was enough for Tobol to take the away 0–1 victory. In December he was exhibited by FC Astana for the transfer. He was returned to Astana following the end of the 2017 season and later on 15 January 2018 he announced via his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

profile to have departed from Astana.

International career

In April 2013,

FSHF The Albanian Football Association ( sq, Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. The association is based in Tirana, Albania. It organises the national football leagues of the Albanian Superliga, the Fir ...

has been reported to have an interest in Llullaku representing

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 ...

and asked him to apply for an Albanian passport (citizenship). On 24 May 2013, Llullaku received the Albanian citizenship among 4 fellow Albanian international players, Jurgen Gjasula, Ilir Berisha,

Amir Abrashi Amir Malush Abrashi (born 27 March 1990) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Swiss club Grasshoppers and the Albania national team. Club career Early career Abrashi was born in Bischofszell, Switzerl ...

and

Vullnet Basha Vullnet Xhevat Basha (born 11 July 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Polish I liga club Wisła Kraków. Born in Switzerland, he represented that nation at youth international levels but played for Albania at senior ...

. He received the first call-up from the national team coach

Gianni De Biasi Giovanni "Gianni" De Biasi (, sq, Xhovani "Xhani" De Biazi), born 16 June 1956 is an Italian football coach and former player. He holds dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. De Biasi was the first coach of the Albania national team to lead th ...

who declared that due to the absence of Edmond Kapllani, he had decided to call-up Llullaku to replace him for the match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 7 June 2013 and this due to his both-wings playing ability. Llullaku was an unused substitute for the entire match as he remained on the bench. In October 2016, after a three years absence, following a series of good performances with Gaz Metan Mediaș, Llullaku was called up again from De Biasi for the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

matches against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He made his senior debut on 6 October by playing as a starter in the match against Liechtenstein which finished a 2–0 away win, as Albania took the lead of Group G with six points.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Astra Giurgiu *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: Runner-up 2018–19

Individual

top scorer: 2016–17

References

External links

* *
Azdren Llullaku profile
at

.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Llullaku, Azdren 1988 births Living people People from Istog Kosovo Albanians Kosovan footballers Albanian footballers Association football forwards Association football midfielders Albania international footballers Serie D players Serie C players Serie B players Liga I players Liga II players Kazakhstan Premier League players Belarusian Premier League players F.C.D. Conegliano Calcio 1907 players A.S.D. Sacilese Calcio players F.C. Südtirol players S.S.D. Domegliara players A.S.D. Pol. Tamai players S.S.D. Calcio San Donà players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players FC Astana players FC Tobol players Virtus Entella players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk players CS Concordia Chiajna players Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate footballers in Belarus Sportspeople from Peja