Kastriot Luan Dermaku (born 15 January 1992) is a 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 a defender for club

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

. Born in Italy, he represents the Albania national team.

Early life

Dermaku was born in Scandiano, in the northeast part of Italy is the son of Luan Dermaku, former professional

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

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 ...

during

Fadil Vokrri Fadil Avdullah Vokrri ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Fadilj Avdulah Vokri, Фадиљ Авдулах Вокри; 23 July 1960 – 9 June 2018) was a yugoslavian football player and administrator of albanian origin. Arguably one of the greates ...

's era.

Club career

Melfi

Dermaku emerged to the senior team in the beginning of the 2011–12 season, where he made his professional debut on 30 October 2011 in the matchday 13 against

Celano Celano is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of L'Aquila, central Italy, east of Rome by rail. Geography Celano rises on the top of a hill in the territory of Marsica, below the mountain range of Sirente. It faces the valley of Fucino, once ...

, playing the last 13 minutes of a 4–0 home triumph. Later on 4 December, Dermaku made his second appearance of the season as well as his first start in a 3–1 away defeat to Paganese. He finished his first senior season by making eight league appearances, as ''Federiciani'' finished the season in 16th position in Lega Pro 2. In his last season the 2014–15, Dermaku was named as a team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. On 1 April 2015, Dermaku made his 100th league appearance for the club by scoring in Melfi's 2–3 away win over

Casertana Casertana Football Club is an Italian association football club based in Caserta, Campania. The club currently plays in Serie D. History The club was founded in 1908 as Robur Caserta and became known as Unione Sportiva Casertana from 1928 unt ...

Empoli

On 15 May 2015, Dermaku completed a transfer to

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

by penning a three-year contract with the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club. He was seen as a replacement for

Daniele Rugani Daniele Rugani (; born 29 July 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Juventus. Rugani began his professional club career with Empoli in Serie B in 2013, where he immediately helped the club achieve Ser ...

which left for

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Cosenza

On 31 August 2017, after he become a free agent following the departure from Empoli, Dermaku joined

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 ...

on a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 9 September in the goalless draw against

Matera Matera (, ; Materano: ) is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. As the capital of the province of Matera, its original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a comple ...

, while his first goal came on 31 March of the following year in the 2–1 win at

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia currently plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football system. History The football in Castellammare di Stabia From St ...

. Dermaku concluded his first season by making 40 appearances in Serie C, all of them as starter, collecting 3555 minutes; ''Rossoblù'' achieved their promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

for the first time in 15 years. Even after the club returned in Serie B, Dermaku was able to retain his place in the starting lineup, making 33 appearances in the 2018–19 season. His debut in the league came in the opening matchday against

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

which ended in a 1–1 draw at

Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca is a multi-purpose stadium in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the home of Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. The stadium was built in 1962 and holds 12,461. History The stadium was ...

. On 22 April 2019, he scored his first Serie B goal, the winner against

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

at home. Following the end of the season, Dermaku become free agent after his contract expired and he decided not to renew it. He concluded his spell with Cosenza by 79 matches between league and cup, scoring twice in the process.

Parma

On 7 July 2019, Dermaku signed a four-year contract with top flight side

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Lecce

On 5 October 2020, he was loaned to

for the 2020–21 season. On 30 August 2021, he moved to Lecce on a permanent basis and signed a three-year contract.

International career

Albania

Under-21

On 30 January 2013, Dermaku received a call-up from Albania U21 for the

friendly match 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 Macedonia U21 and made his debut after coming on as a substitute at 66th minute in place of Gentian Durak.

Kosovo

On 31 August 2018, Dermaku 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

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

matches against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, he was an unused bench in the first match. On 9 September 2018, Dermaku left from the gathering with Kosovo after he was not named in the starting line-up in the match against Faroe Islands and he opted to represent Albania instead.

Return to Albania

On 2 October 2018, Dermaku received a call-up from

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 ...

for the

against

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and

match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. One week later he received the Albanian citizenship to be eligible to play for the national side. In the next day, he made his debut for Albania in the first match against Jordan after coming on as a substitute at 56th minute in place of

Mërgim Mavraj Mërgim Mustafë Mavraj (born 9 June 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Born in Germany, he represented the Albania national team from 2012 until 2020. Mavraj previously played for Germany U21 team, as well ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dermaku goal.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dermaku, Kastriot 1992 births Living people People from Scandiano Albanian footballers Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Italian footballers Kosovo Albanians Italian people of Albanian descent Italian people of Kosovan descent Men's association football defenders Serie C players A.S. Melfi players A.C. Pavia 1911 S.S.D. players Lucchese 1905 players Serie A players Empoli F.C. players Serie B players Cosenza Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players U.S. Lecce players Footballers from Emilia-Romagna Sportspeople from the Province of Reggio Emilia