Blendi Xhemajl Baftiu (born 17 February 1998) is a Kosovan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an attacking midfielder for Kosovan club

FC Drita Football Club Drita ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Drita), commonly known as Drita, is a professional football club based in Gjilan, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo . The club's home ground is the Gjilan City Stadium. It wa ...

and the Kosovo national team.

Club career

Early career

Baftiu began his football career with the youth team of Ramiz Sadiku until 25 September 2015, where he signed a long term 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

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 ...

, but he during the 2015–16 season would play with under-19 team.

Prishtina

On 1 June 2016, Baftiu joined

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

side

Prishtina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, on a three-year contract.

Loan at Flamurtari

On 10 August 2017, Baftiu joined

side

Flamurtari 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 on ...

, on a season-long loan.

Ballkani

On 14 June 2018, Baftiu joined

side Ballkani, on a two-year contract. On 19 August 2018, he made his debut in a 0–1 away win against Liria after being named in the starting line-up.

International career

Under-21

On 21 March 2017, Baftiu received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Italy in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tour ...

match against Republic of Ireland U21. On 6 June 2019, he made his debut with Kosovo U21 in a match against Andorra U21 after coming on as a substitute at 86th minute in place of Arbnor Muja.

Senior

On 24 December 2019, Baftiu received a call-up from Kosovo for the friendly match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and made his debut after coming on as a substitute at 46th minute in place of Ylldren Ibrahimaj.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baftiu, Blendi Living people 1998 births Footballers from Pristina Kosovo Albanians Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Kosovo men's youth international footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Football Superleague of Kosovo players FC Prishtina players KF Flamurtari players FC Ballkani players Kategoria Superiore players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players