Gjelbrim Izir Taipi (born 13 December 1992) 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 A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for Partizani and the Kosovo national team.

Early life

Taipi was born in

Bujanovac Bujanovac ( sr-cyr, Бујановац, ; sq, Bujanoc) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also ...

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

from

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

parents from

Veliki Trnovac Veliki Trnovac (, ) is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village had a population of 6,762. Of these, 6,730 (99,52%) were ethnic Albanians, 1 (0,01%) Bulgarian, 1 (0,01%) Bosniak, and 12 (0,17% ...

and is the older brother of

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 ...

player Shqiprim Taipi.

Club career

Tërnoci

In his youth, Taipi joined his local football team Tërnoci. Moving up the ranks within the club, he eventually joined the senior team at the age of 17. In his first season at Tërnoci, he scored 17 goals in 31 appearances in the Pčinjska Liga and becoming the league's top scorer. He was regarded as a talented player and received transfer offers from Swiss club Young Boys, German club

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

and Slovenian club

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Shkëndija

Taipi made his first appearance for Shkëndija against

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

in the home leg of the second qualifying round of 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. In his first season at Shkëndija, he made twenty six appearances, scored two goals and four assists. He had integrated himself well into the Shkëndija squad and helped Shkëndija to third place in the 2011–12 season. During his second season, Taipi became a key member of the Shkëndija and he was involved in the first qualifying round of 2012–13 UEFA Europa League against

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

. He became a favored player by the fans when and on 7 October, he scored a long distance goal and assisted a second to

Muzafer Ejupi Muzafer Ejupi ( mk, Музафер Ејупи; born 16 September 1988) is a retired Macedonian footballer. He last played in Croatia for Slaven Belupo. Club career Ejupi started his career at FK Vardar, where he remained until 2010 when he joine ...

against Shkëndija's rival,

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

at home. The next week, he scored his second goal of the season against Drita. At the end of the season, it was expected Taipi would move abroad, with speculation indicating

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Wil

On 9 June 2013. Taipi officially signed with

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

side

Wil Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...

for two years. On 21 July 2013, he made his debut in a match against

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...

after being named in the starting line-up and scored his side's the first goal during a 3–0 away win.

Schaffhausen

On 16 January 2017. Taipi joined

side

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

. On 5 February 2017, he made his debut in a 2–2 away draw against

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

St. Gallen

On 1 July 2017. Taipi joined

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

side

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

. On 9 September 2017, he made his debut in a 3–3 away draw against

Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

after coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute in place of

Danijel Aleksić Danijel Aleksić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дaниjeл Aлeкcић; born 30 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir. Early life Born in Pula, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia, Aleksić was several month ...

Grasshoppers

On 16 January 2018. Taipi signed

side

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

. On 4 February 2018, he made his debut in a 1–3 away win 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 Plac ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

International career

Albania

Under-21

On 6 June 2012. Taipi made his debut with Albania U21 in a

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2011 and 2012 to decide the qualifiers for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Israel. The draw for ...

match against Portugal U21 after being named in the starting line-up.

Kosovo

On 19 March 2018. Taipi received a call-up from

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 ...

for the

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. On 27 March 2018, he made his debut with Kosovo in a friendly match against Burkina Faso after being named in the starting line-up and he is the third player that comes from the

Preševo Valley The Preševo Valley ( sr-cyrl, Прешевска долина, Preševska dolina, al, Lugina e Preshevës) is a geopolitical region in southern Serbia, along the border with Kosovo. The valley geographically includes municipalities of Bujanova ...

after

Atdhe Nuhiu Atdhe Nuhiu (; born 29 July 1989) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian Bundesliga club SC Rheindorf Altach. Club career SV Ried On 31 August 2009, on the deadline day, Nuhiu completed a transfer to SV Ried o ...

and

Fidan Aliti Fidan Aliti (born 3 October 1993) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for FC Zürich, Zürich. Born in Switzerland, he originally represented Albania national football team, Albania at the international l ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taipi, Gjelbrim 1992 births Living people People from Bujanovac Sportspeople from Pčinja District Kosovo Albanians Men's association football midfielders Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's youth international footballers KF Shkëndija players FC Wil players FC Schaffhausen players FC St. Gallen players Grasshopper Club Zürich players FC Winterthur players FK Kukësi players Macedonian First Football League players Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players Kategoria Superiore players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in North Macedonia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland