Drilon Cenaj (born 12 September 1997) is an Albanian 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 ...

who plays as a

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 Kosovo Superleague club Fushë Kosova.

Club career

Early career and Salernitana

Cenaj is a product of youth team systems of the different Bosnian and Hungarian sides. On 15 September 2015, he signed with under-19 team of

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

after agreeing to a multiyear deal. On 2 August 2016, Cenaj signed his first professional contract with

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

side

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

after agreeing to a one-year deal. Five days later, he was named as a Salernitana substitute for the first time in the 2016–17 Coppa Italia second round against Benevento, but was an unused substitute in that match.

Velež Mostar

On 10 March 2017, Cenaj joined First League of FBiH side Velež Mostar. On 8 April 2017, he made his debut in a 3–0 away defeat against Budućnost Banovići after being named in the starting line-up.

Novigrad

On 1 August 2017, Cenaj joined Croatian Second League side Novigrad. His debut with Novigrad came eighteen days later in a 1–1 home draw against

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

after coming on as a substitute at 56th minute in place of Nemanja Belaković.

Pandurii Târgu Jiu

On 19 February 2018, Cenaj joined Romanian

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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting c ...

side

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 ...

. On 10 March 2018, he made his debut in a 2–1 home win 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 firs ...

after coming on as a substitute at 83rd minute in place of Brian Lemac.

Botev Vratsa and Viitorul Târgu Jiu

On 9 January 2019, Cenaj joined

Bulgarian First Professional League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

side

Botev Vratsa Botev ( bg, Ботев) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at St ...

. A month later, he joined Romanian

side Viitorul Târgu Jiu. On 23 February 2019, he made his debut in a 0–2 away defeat against

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Nyíregyháza

On 12 July 2019, Cenaj joined

Nemzeti Bajnokság II NB II, currently known as the Merkantil Bank Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of Hungarian football. At the end of the 2004–05 season, the tournament format was changed from one division of 14 teams to two divisions: ''Keleti' ...

side

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, sk, Níreďháza) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in ...

. On 18 August 2019, he made his debut in a 3–0 home win against

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; sk, Békešská Čaba; see also other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budap ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Čelik Zenica

On 17 February 2020, Cenaj joined

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

side Čelik Zenica after agreeing to a one-and-a-half-year deal. His debut with Čelik Zenica came six days later in a 0–2 away defeat against

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: ** HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) ** ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *H ...

after coming on as a substitute at 46th minute in place of Marko Perišić.

Tuzla City and Szentlőrinc

On 26 June 2020, Cenaj joined

side

Tuzla City Fudbalski klub Tuzla City ( en, Football Club Tuzla City), formerly known as Fudbalski klub Sloga Simin Han ( en, Football Club Sloga Simin Han), is a professional football club based in Simin Han, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in ...

. However, less than two months later, on 18 August, he suddenly left the club. On 22 October 2020, he joined

side

Szentlőrinc Szentlőrinc () is a town in Baranya county, Hungary. Sport The association football club Szentlőrinc SE, currently competing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II, are based in the town. Twin towns Szentlőrinc is twinned with: * Urbach, Germany ...

. His debut with Szentlőrinc came three days later in a 3–0 away win against

after coming on as a substitute at 72nd minute in place of Alexander Torvund.

Prishtina

On 21 January 2022, Cenaj joined Kosovo Superleague 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 ...

after agreeing to a one-and-a-half-year deal. On 7 April 2022, he was named as a Prishtina substitute for the first time in the 2021–22 Kosovar Cup semi-finals against Llapi. His debut with Prishtina came on 4 May in a 5–0 home win against Feronikeli after being named in the starting line-up.

Fushë Kosova

In August 2023, Cenaj joined Kosovo Superleague side Fushë Kosova. His debut with Fushë Kosova came on 19 August in a 1–6 away defeat against

Malisheva Malisheva, ) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 54,613 people residing in Malisheva Municipality, with Kosovo Albanians constituting the majority of th ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

International career

During the 2012–13 period, Cenaj represented

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

at the U15, and U17 level. In February 2013, he becomes part of Albania U17 with which he made his debut in a 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

after being named in the starting line-up. On 15 March 2014, Cenaj returned to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina again by accepting their call-up from the under-17 team for the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round was the second round of qualification for the final tournament of the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Malta. The 27 teams advancing from the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championshi ...

, but due to injury, could not be part of the national team. In addition to

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

, he has the right to represent his homeland,

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 ...

at the international level.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cenaj, Drilon 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Gjakova Men's association football midfielders Kosovan men's footballers US Salernitana 1919 players FK Velež Mostar players NK Novigrad players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players POFC Botev Vratsa players ACS Viitorul Târgu Jiu players Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC players NK Čelik Zenica players FK Tuzla City players Szentlőrinci SE footballers FC Prishtina players KF Fushë Kosova players First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina players First Football League (Croatia) players Liga II players Nemzeti Bajnokság II players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Hungary