Nedim Bajrami (born 28 February 1999) 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 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 ...

or winger for Italian football club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

. Born and raised in Switzerland to ethnic

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

Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...

, Bajrami represented the Swiss youth national teams, before opting to represent the Albania national team at senior level.

Club career

Bajrami was born in Switzerland, he spent all of his youth career with professional 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 ...

. He signed his first professional contract alongside teammates Petar Pušić and Arijan Qollaku in February 2017, and made his debut the same month, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 loss to

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...

. On 13 August 2019, Bajrami joined Italian

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 ...

club

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 ...

on loan with an option to buy. On 31 January 2023, Bajrami moved to

on loan with an obligation to buy.

International career

Bajrami has represented Switzerland up to under-19 level. He played for the Switzerland U17 team in their unsuccessful European Under-17 Championship qualification bid in 2016, featuring in all their six games. He scored a total of five goals for the under-17 side, including a brace against

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in 2015. On 9 March 2021, Switzerland's U-21 manager

Mauro Lustrinelli Mauro "Lustri" Lustrinelli (born 26 February 1976) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player. He is the current coach of FC Thun. He is also a former player of the Swiss national team. He has a Bachelor of Business Administratio ...

confirmed that Bajrami chose to switch alliances and represent his country of origin,

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 ...

. On 17 March 2021 he received Albanian citizenship, thus needing only a permission by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to become eligible to play for the Albania national team. He received the go ahead from

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

on 30 August 2021. He debuted with Albania in a 1–0

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

on 5 September 2021 by coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute in place of

Qazim Laçi Qazim Laçi (born 19 January 1996) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Ajaccio and the Albania national team. Club career Early career Laçi was born in Peshkopi, Albania, but moved to Greece w ...

. On 17 June 2023, Bajrami scored his first goal for Albania in a Euro 2024 qualifying game against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Club career

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

References

External links