Ezgjan Alioski ( mk, Езѓан Алиоски; born 12 February 1992) is a Macedonian 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
winger or
wing-back for Turkish
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
club
Fenerbahçe on loan from Saudi club
Al-Ahli and the
North Macedonia national team. He is commonly known as 'Gjanni'.
A versatile left-footed player, he predominantly plays on the left wing, and can also play as
striker,
attacking 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 ...
, right wing,
left wing-back or as a left-back.
Club career
Early career
Having joined their youth academy in 2003,
Alioski began his career as a
left-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
in the second team of
Young Boys from 2010 to 2013, where he scored four goals in 57 matches. In January 2013, he went to
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...
on loan, before joining on a permanent transfer in October 2013,
scoring four goals in 77 matches.
Lugano
He joined
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
on loan in January 2016, and made his debut on 13 February in a 2–1 loss against
Thun
, neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg
, twintown =
, website = www.thun.ch
Thun (french: Thou ...
. Despite signing him as a left back, then Lugano manager
Zdeněk Zeman converted Alioski into an attacking
right winger
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 ...
and
striker towards the end of the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 11 May 2016 in a 4–0 win to
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
.
In June 2016, his move was made permanent. New manager
Andrea Manzo
Andrea Manzo (born 5 November 1961) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder.
Career
Playing
Manzo started his professional career in 1978 with Padova. He then played for a number of Serie A and Serie B teams, most notably Fiorentin ...
continued to play Alioski in the attacking roles once the season started. He scored his first goal of the campaign in his second game on 30 July 2016, in a 2–1 win over Young Boys. He scored seven goals in his first ten games at the club. On 19 April 2017, Alioski scored a hat-trick for Lugano in a 4–2 victory against
Sion
Sion may refer to
* an alternative transliteration of Zion
People
* Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name
Pl ...
.
He continued to impress during his first season and helped guide Lugano to a third-place finish in the
Swiss Super League. He scored 16 goals in 34 games for Lugano and was the third top goalscorer in the league in the
2016–17 season, behind
Seydou Doumbia
Seydou Doumbia (; born 31 December 1987) is an Ivorian professional association footballer who last played as a forward for Maltese Premier League club Ħamrun Spartans.
After beginning his career in the Ivory Coast and Japan, he arrived in E ...
(20) and
Guillaume Hoarau
Guillaume Hoarau (born 5 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career
Early career
Hoarau started his football career at JS Saint-Pierroise in his native Réunion. In 1995, Le Havre AC scouts co ...
(18). He was also the third highest in the division in terms of his assists, after making 14 in his 34 games, behind
Yoric Ravet
Yoric Ravet (born 12 September 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for French amateur club ES Manival.
Club career
Since childhood, Ravet was with Grenoble Foot 38, growing up in nearby Échirolles. He primarily pl ...
(17) and
Matteo Tosetti
Matteo Tosetti (born 15 February 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays for AC Bellinzona.
Club career
Tosetti began his playing career with hometown club Losone Sportiva until a move to FC Locarno in 2005. There he rose through the y ...
(15).
Leeds United
Alioski was a part of
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
's return to the Premier League in 2019–20 after a sixteen-year wait, notwithstanding three seasons played in the second tier of English football. He scored important goals in the 2019–20 season.
2017–18 season
Alioski joined English club Leeds United on 13 July 2017. On 6 August 2017, he made his debut in a 3–2 victory against
Bolton Wanderers and created the assist for teammate
Chris Wood's goal. After gaining another assist, he received the man of the match award over
Sunderland in a 2–0 win on 19 August. On 26 August, Alioski received the man of the match award and scored his first goal for Leeds in a 2–0 victory against
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
. On 15 September, Alioski won the Championship Goal of the Month Award for August for his goal against Nottingham Forest. In November 2017, Alioski scored in all of Leeds United's four games, and was awarded with the club's award for Player of the Month.
On 16 April 2018, Alioski was nominated as one of four players for Leeds United's Player of The Year award. On 21 April, Alioski scored the winner with his seventh goal of the season in a 2–1 victory for Leeds in the Yorkshire derby against
Barnsley. He ended the season with seven goals and five assists.
On 5 May, Alioski won the Goal of the Season award for his strike over Nottingham Forest at Leeds' annual award ceremony.
2018–19 season
He scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season with a goal on 11 August in a 4–1 victory of
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
.
Alioski started the season for Leeds as a winger playing on the right or left side, but after an injury to regular left-back
Barry Douglas in 2019, Alioski was praised for his form playing at left-back, with his form keeping a returning Douglas out of the side. He continued to thrive in this wing-back position throughout 2019, producing marauding runs up the left flank and scoring against
Stoke City, Bolton Wanderers and
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
to bring his Championship tally for 2018–19 to seven, until, on 22 April, in Leeds' 2–0 defeat at
Brentford, Alioski was substituted after twelve minutes with a torn
meniscus
Meniscus may refer to:
*Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity
*Meniscus (liquid)
The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...
and missed the remainder of the season, including play-offs.
During the
2018–19 season, Alioski played 47 games in all competitions, netting seven goals, after Leeds finished the regular season in third place after dropping out of the automatic promotion places with three games left following a loss to
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
on 19 April. Leeds United qualified for the play-offs versus sixth-placed Derby County, with Alioski's season already ended by injury. Leeds won the first leg of the play-offs in a 1–0 win at
Pride Park
Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are bot ...
to bring into a 1–0 aggregate lead into the home leg at Elland Road. However, they lost the second leg 2–4, with
Gaetano Berardi
Gaetano Michel Berardi (born 21 August 1988) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss club AC Bellinzona. He can also operate at left-back and centre-back. He has been capped at international level by Switzerland.
...
being sent off.
This setback resulted in Leeds losing 4–3 on aggregate.
2019–20 season
On 24 August, Alioski scored his first goal of the 2019–20 season in a 3–0 win over Stoke City. After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the season was resumed during June, where Alioski earned promotion with Leeds to 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 Fo ...
and also become the
EFL Championship winners for the 2019–20 season in July following a successful resumption of the season. Alioski played an important part in the promotion, scoring important goals and changing games.
2020–21 season
Alioski played his first Premier League game on 19 September 2020, when he came on as a 70th-minute substitute for
Patrick Bamford
Patrick James Bamford (born 5 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leeds United and the England national team.
Bamford began his career at Nottingham Forest, making his debut in December 2011, ...
in the team's 4–3 home win over
Fulham. Three days earlier, Alioski had been in the starting line-up, scoring the only goal — in added time — in Leeds's 1–1
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
second round tie with
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
(Hull went on to win 9–8 on penalties with Alioski missing his spot kick). He made his first Premier League start on 5 October 2020 against
Manchester City, coming into the first eleven in place of
Jack Harrison, who was ineligible to play against his parent club. On 16 December 2020, he scored his first Premier League goal in the 5–2 home win against
Newcastle United. Alioski scored his final goal of 2020 in a 5–0 away win over
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
. Alioski was offered a new contract at the end of the season, but was unable to reach an agreement with the club, thus departing the club after four years.
Al-Ahli
On 29 July 2021, Alioski signed for Saudi Arabian club
Al-Ahli.
Fenerbahçe
On 2 August 2022, he signed a one-year loan contract with
Fenerbahçe.
International career
Eligible to represent
Macedonia and
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 ...
due to his
Albanian heritage, Alioski decided to represent the country of his birth, Macedonia. After representing Macedonia at various youth levels, he made his debut for the senior side in 2013.
He scored his first international goal against Albania on 5 September 2016 in a
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 ...
match. He mainly played for his national side in a
left wing-back position, before being converted to a more attacking midfield position.
On 6 September 2018, Alioski scored in a 2–0 win over
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
in the
UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body.
The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...
. He scored in his country's next game on 9 September in a 2–0 UEFA Nations League win against
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
.
In May 2021, Alioski was selected in the final
26-man squad to represent North Macedonia at the postponed
UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
, marking the country's first appearance at a major tournament. During North Macedonia's opening fixture of the tournament against
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, immediatedly after striker
Marko Arnautović
Marko Arnautović (; born 19 April 1989) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Bologna and the Austria national team.
Arnautović began his career in his native Austria playing in the youth teams for a ...
(who is half-
Serbian) scored, Arnautović angrily shouted towards Alioski and teammate
Egzon Bejtulai–both of Albanian descent–what were believed to be
anti-Albanian slurs.
Football Federation of Macedonia
The Football Federation of Macedonia (FFM; mk, Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија, ФФМ; sq, Federata e Futbollit të Maqedonisë) or Football Federation of North Macedonia is the governing body of football in No ...
released a statement calling for action by
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
.
Personal life
Alioski is
Muslim. He can speak Albanian, English, French, German, Italian, Macedonian and Spanish. He has citizenships of North Macedonia and Switzerland.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''As of match played 14 November 2021. North Macedonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Alioski goal.''
Honours
Leeds United
*
EFL Championship:
2019–20
Individual
*
Swiss Super League Team of the Year:
2016–17
*EFL Championship Goal of the Month: August 2017
*
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
Goal of the Season:
2017–18
References
External links
*
Ezgjan Alioskiat Macedonianfootball.com
Ezgjan Alioskiat
ESPN FC
ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alioski, Ezgjan
1992 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Prilep
Macedonian footballers
Association football fullbacks
BSC Young Boys players
FC Schaffhausen players
FC Lugano players
Leeds United F.C. players
Al-Ahli Saudi FC players
Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers
Swiss Challenge League players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Saudi Professional League players
Süper Lig players
North Macedonia youth international footballers
North Macedonia under-21 international footballers
North Macedonia international footballers
UEFA Euro 2020 players
Macedonian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in England
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Albanian footballers from North Macedonia