Valon Berisha (born 7 February 1993) 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 ...

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 A-League club Melbourne City, on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

from Ligue 1 club Reims, and the Kosovo national team. He previously represented

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

at youth and full international level.

Club career

Early years

Berisha was born in Malmö, Sweden, to Kosovan immigrants from Podujevo, but grew up in

, living in

Egersund Egersund is a town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger. The town is situated along a strait which separates the mainland from the ...

, a town south of Stavanger. He spent his early years at local club

Egersunds IK Egersunds Idrettsklubb, commonly known as Egersund or EIK, is a Norwegian sports club from Egersund in Rogaland. The club has sections for football, handball and athletics, and is most known for its football team, which plays in the 2. divisjon, ...

. Berisha spent three trial periods with

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 ...

side

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

between the ages of 14 and 15, whilst also spending time with Manchester City and Aston Villa. The latter two clubs offered him a contract, both of which he turned down in favour of staying in Norway.Sa nei til City og Villa
nettavisen.no On 20 June 2008, at the age of just 15 years, Berisha made his senior debut for EIK against Staal Jørpeland IL in the

Norwegian Third Division The Norwegian Third Division, also called 3. divisjon, is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approximately from ...

Viking

Berisha signed for

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

in March 2009. He made his

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

debut against Brann on 21 March 2010, coming on for Vidar Nisja in the 85th minute. He started twelve league appearances that season, four in the starting line-up and all on the left wing. It was from the left that he scored his first professional goal on 31 October in a 1–1 draw against

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

. The goal, which showcased a 20-yard in-field dribble and shot 25 yards from goal, was nominated for Tippeligaen 2010 Goal of the Season. Berisha kept his place in the side for the season ender against

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aus ...

, where his

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance inspired Viking to a 3–1 come back. Before Tippeligaen 2011, Viking manager

Åge Hareide Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian football manager and player, currently managing Malmö FF as the interim manager. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich ...

talked up Berisha as one of the best players he had coached, and in May, he won the Statoil Talent Prize, an award handed to outstanding young Norwegian footballers each month. Each winner is given the opportunity to donate a scholarship of 50,000 Norwegian kroner to the club he or she thought had the most importance to their development; Berisha chose to give the money to his first club, Egersunds IK. As with 2010, one of his season's highlights was a goal scored from an almost replicate 25-yard shot against

on 3 July 2011. Throughout that year, Berisha duly became a guaranteed starter for Viking, playing 88% of possible playing time. Despite continuing to play on the left wing for most of that time, Berisha became more prominent in his favoured central attacking midfield position as the season went on, something Stig Torbjørnsen, one of Norway's most famous talent scouts, wished for prior to the season start. On 19 June 2011, Valon and his brother Veton became the first brothers to play together for Viking in 22 years since

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

and Egil Fjetland played against Molde in the 1989 Norwegian Cup final. Despite both moving to Viking from Egersund, it was the first time the Berisha brothers had played a senior game together. On 15 February 2012, the day after Berisha was called up by

Egil Olsen Egil Roger Olsen (born 22 April 1942), nicknamed Drillo, is a Norwegian football manager and former footballer. He is best known as a highly successful manager of the Norway national football team. He has since been manager of the Iraq national ...

to play

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, his agent Jim Solbakken told

Stavanger Aftenblad ''Stavanger Aftenblad'' () (lit: ''Stavanger Evening Paper'') or simply ''Aftenbladet'' is a daily newspaper based in Stavanger, Norway, and owned by Schibsted Media Group. Norwegian owners held 42 percent of the shares in Schibsted at the end ...

: "We are already in talks with several clubs that have Valon Berisha high or at the very top of their list when the international transfer market opens this summer ... Now we just need to find the club that fits Berisha and who will pay a lot for him." To this, Berisha said, "I must be much better before I am ready for the league I aim to. I see y next clubas an intermediate step, such as in the Netherlands n_Eredivisie.html"_;"title="Eredivisie.html"_;"title="n_Eredivisie">n_Eredivisie">Eredivisie.html"_;"title="n_Eredivisie">n_Eredivisiewhich_focuses_on_young_players."

_Red_Bull_Salzburg

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Red Bull Salzburg

In July 2012, Berisha signed a deal with FC Red Bull Salzburg">Red Bull Salzburg, joining the club at the same time as fellow Norwegian Håvard Nielsen After a brief illness, he made his debut against FC Admira Wacker Mödling, Admira on 18 August 2012. He twice assisted his compatriot Nielsen, and was involved in what was his hat trick goal in a 4–4 draw. He scored his first goal for Red Bull the next week in the 1–1 draw against

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

, and scored another in the 4–0 victory against Wacker Innsbruck on 1 September. Of his 27 Goals for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga 14 of those strikes have come from outside of the box. During the 2017–18 season Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of their Europa League group, for a record fourth time, before beating Real Sociedad and

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

thus making their first ever appearance in the UEFA Europa League semi-final. On 3 May 2018, he played in the Europa League semi-finals as Olympique de Marseille played out a 1–2 away loss but a 3–2 aggregate win to secure a place in the

2018 UEFA Europa League Final The 2018 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Eu ...

Lazio

On 3 July 2018, Berisha joined

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 Cop ...

side

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, on a five-year contract. Lazio reportedly paid a €7.5 million transfer fee. On 4 October 2018, he made his debut with Lazio in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

2018–19 UEFA Europa League The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Sta ...

against the German side

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

after coming on as a substitute at 64th minute in place of

Sergej Milinković-Savić Sergej Milinković-Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Сергеј Милинковић-Савић, ; born 27 February 1995), also known mononymously as Sergej, is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Lazio and the Serbia ...

. Three days later, he made his first Serie A appearance by entering in the 85th minute of the 1–0 home win over

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

in place of

Ciro Immobile Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Lazio, which he captains, and the Italy national team. Immobile began his career at Sorrento. In 2009, he was purchased by Juv ...

Loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 30 January 2020, Berisha joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

, on a six-month-long loan. Two days later, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against

after being named in the starting line-up.

Reims

On 9 July 2020, Berisha signed a four-year contract with Ligue 1 club Reims and receiving squad number 14. Reims reportedly paid a €5 million transfer fee. On 23 August 2020, he made his debut in a 2–2 away draw against

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

after coming on as a substitute at 56th minute in place of Dereck Kutesa.

International career

Norway

Berisha has amounted over forty appearances for all of Norway's age-specific national sides. He has played in all four of Norway under-21 side's four games during the 2013 European Under-21 Championship qualification campaign. He scored Norway's only goal in the 2–1 loss against England under-21 side. On 23 November 2011, Berisha was called up to mostly domestic-based

squad for the 2012 King's Cup in Thailand. He was one of fourteen players who made their international debut at the friendly tournament which ran from 15 January until 21 January. Berisha made his debut for the national team when he replaced Alexander Søderlund as a 62nd-minute substitute in a 1–1 friendly draw against Denmark League XI on 15 January 2012. He started the remaining two games of the tournament against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and South Korea U23. When asked whether he agreed with the plaudits he had gained from the press and coaches at the tournament, Berisha said, "I am very happy ... I've tried to show that I can work hard both ways, that I can take initiative with or without the ball, in challenge and with speed – I feel I've managed well." On 14 February 2012, Berisha was called up to play

on 29 February 2012. He was one of seven players to keep their place in the national side following the King's Cup, and the only player to be called up for the first time to a squad that also contains expatriate players.

Kosovo

At a meeting in December 2012, FIFA voted to allow Kosovo to take part in friendly matches against its members. Ahead of the team's first match, in March 2014, ''

'' reported that Berisha had been approached by Kosovo, but he had not made a decision as to whether he would switch allegiance. In 2016, after Kosovo became a FIFA member, he elected to play for them and was granted clearance. He scored on his debut for

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 ...

on 5 September as his 60th-minute penalty earned a 1–1 draw against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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.

Personal life

Berisha's younger brother, Veton, is also a professional footballer who currently plays for Hammarby in Sweden.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Berisha goal''. , - , 1. , 5 September 2016 ,

Veritas Stadion Veritas Stadion is an association football stadium in Turku, Finland. It is situated in the district of Kupittaa, in an area dedicated to sporting venues. The stadium serves as the home venue for FC Inter Turku and Turun Palloseura playing i ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

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AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis ( el, ΑΕΚ Αρένα – Γεώργιος Καραπατάκης) is a Association football, football stadium in Larnaca, Cyprus. Completed in 2016, it is the home ground of AEK Larnaca F.C., AEK Larnaca and h ...

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 1 ...

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, align="center",

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg * Austrian Football Bundesliga: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 * Austrian Cup: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17 Lazio *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2018–19 * Supercoppa Italiana:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Year: 2017–18 * Austrian Bundesliga Top assist provider: 2016–17 * Austrian Bundesliga Team of the Year: 2016–17, 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Profile
at

Football Association of Norway The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berisha, Valon 1993 births Living people People from Podujevo People from Egersund Association football midfielders Kosovan footballers Kosovo international footballers Norwegian footballers Norway youth international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Norway international footballers Dual internationalists (football) Egersunds IK players Viking FK players FC Red Bull Salzburg players S.S. Lazio players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Stade de Reims players Melbourne City FC players Eliteserien players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Serie A players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Norwegian expatriate footballers Kosovan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in Italy Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in France Sportspeople from Rogaland Championnat National 2 players