Berat Ridvan Djimsiti ( sq, Gjimshiti; born 19 February 1993) 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-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 ...

for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily kno ...

. Born in Switzerland to Albanian parents, he represented his birth country at youth level before choosing to play for the Albania national team.

Club career

Early career

Djimsiti was born in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

, Switzerland into an ethnic Albanian family, from the village of

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% ...

in Serbia. He started his youth career at FC Zürich-Affoltern where he stayed until 2007, when he moved to

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

academies at the age of 14.

Zürich

Djimsiti was called up to the first-team for the first time in the

2011–12 Swiss Super League The 2011–12 Swiss Super League season was the 115th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. It began on 16 July 2011 and ended on 23 May 2012. Basel successfully defended their title. No team was directly relegated after Neuchâtel Xamax w ...

season, being benched in the 2–1 victory against Young Boys on 19 April 2011. He was also part of the squad in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round match against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

on 17 August 2011. He made his professional debut on 3 March 2012 against Sion, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute and replacing

Heinz Barmettler Heinz Barmettler Veloz (born 21 July 1987) is a retired professional footballer who played as a central defender. Born in Switzerland, he represented the Dominican Republic internationally. Club career Barmettler was born in Zurich, Switzerla ...

in a 0–1 loss. He scored his first goal for Zürich on 20 May 2012 against

Grasshopper 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. Grasshopp ...

, where he played as a starter and scored in the 75th minute to give his team a 0–1 away victory. Those were his only matches for the entire season. He became a regular starter in the 2012–13 season.

Atalanta

On 18 January 2016, Djimsiti signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

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

, taking the number 55 for the second part of 2015–16 season. He debuted on 3 May 2016 against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in a 2–1 loss. Djimsiti returned to Atalanta ahead of 2018–19 season, playing his first match on 20 August in the 4–0 win against

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

. He scored his first goal for Atalanta later on 11 November, heading home his side's third goal in a 4–1 home win over

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

, which ended the visitor's six-match winning streak. Since returning from his two loan spells, Djimsiti has established himself as a starting defender under

Gian Piero Gasperini Gian Piero Gasperini (born 26 January 1958) is an Italian football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Italian side Atalanta. Playing career Gasperini entered the Juventus youth system at the age of 9; during his stay ...

. On 17 February 2022, Djimsiti scored a brace in the first leg of the

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...

knockout round

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...

, which Atalanta won 2–1.

Loan to Avellino

On 31 August 2016, Djimsiti was loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

side

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

to gain more playing time.

Loan to Benevento

On 8 July 2017, Djimsiti moved on loan to new promoted

side

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

until the end of the season, with buying option.

International career

Switzerland youth level national teams

Djimsiti became a youth national player of Switzerland as he was called up for the first time at

Switzerland national under-18 football team The Swiss national under-18 football team is the national under-18 football team of Switzerland controlled by Swiss Football Association. Recent results Swiss national teams * Switzerland national football team * Switzerland national under-23 ...

making his debut on 5 April 2011 in a friendly match and then played in other 2 matches. Djimsiti was then called up from the

Switzerland national under-19 football team The Swiss national under-19 football team is the national under-19 football team of Switzerland controlled by Swiss Football Association. Recent results Swiss national teams * Switzerland national football team * Switzerland national und ...

for the

2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification The qualifying round of the 2011 UEFA U-19 Championship was the first of two qualifying rounds for the finals tournament of the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. During these rounds, 52 national teams competed to determine the seven teams t ...

and made his debut against Montenegro U19 on 5 June 2011, playing the full 90- minutes match in a 2–2 win. Djimsiti also participated in the next tournament for U-19, the

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 61st edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship (the eleventh since the age competition change to an Under-19 level) and took place in Estonia from 3 to 15 July. Spain are the title hol ...

playing in all 6 matches. Following his good performances at U-19 side, he became part of the

Switzerland national under-21 football team The Switzerland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two ...

. He participated in two consecutive

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...

, in the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 ...

where he was called up in 4 occasions, remaining in all as an unused substitute and the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

playing in 2 out 6 matches.

Albania

In September 2014, Swiss media reported Djimsiti would soon receive 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 share ...

. The news was confirmed by Djimsiti himself, who explained that he had been contacted by the Albanian coach,

Gianni De Biasi Giovanni "Gianni" De Biasi (, sq, Xhovani "Xhani" De Biazi), born 16 June 1956 is an Italian football coach and former player. He holds dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. De Biasi was the first coach of the Albania national team to lead th ...

. In September 2014 he refused also

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 international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

, letting them know that he intended to play for Albania. On 20 September 2014, procedures to give him the Albanian citizenship were started. He received the Albanian citizenship on 15 July 2015 by the president of

Bujar Nishani Bujar Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking office at ...

, along with two other Albanian footballers, the twin brothers part of the fellow Swiss club

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Albian Ajeti Albian Afrim Ajeti (born 26 February 1997) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for Austrian Bundesliga club Sturm Graz, on loan from Celtic, and the Switzerland national team. He has previously played for Basel (two spel ...

and Adonis Ajeti. In July 2015 Djimsiti confirmed definitively that he had decided to play for

. On 27 August 2015 Djimsiti among two other Albanian descents players which switched from Swiss youth international footballers to Albanian international footballers, Arlind Ajeti and Naser Aliji, received the go ahead from

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 ...

which allowed them to play for Albania also in the competitive matches such as the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

Debut and UEFA Euro 2016 campaign

Since he became eligible to represent Albania in international competitive level, Djimsiti received his first call-up at Albania by coach Gianni De Biasi for the

matches against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

on 4 and 7 September 2015 respectively. He made it his first international debut with Albania on 4 September 2015 against Denmark playing as a right back due to the absence of the injured

Elseid Hysaj Elseid Gëzim Hysaj (; born 2 February 1994) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Serie A club Lazio and the Albania national team, for which he is captain. Hysaj can operate on both sides of the pitch as a full ...

and completed the full 90 minutes helping Albania take one point with a goalless draw. He was called up for the next

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament. Group I consisted of five teams: Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, and Albania, where they played ag ...

matches against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

and

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 ''O ...

on 8 and 11 October 2015 respectively. He played as a centre back among

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 ...

Lorik Cana Lorik Agim Cana (; born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional footballer. He is currently the Grassroots ambassador for children's football in Albania, named by the Albanian Football Association on 26 October 2017. Cana played in the ...

in both matches and on 11 October against Armenia he scored his first goal in the 23rd minute following a cross from Ledian Memushaj by a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

from the left side. On 21 May 2016, Djimsiti was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, but was left out of final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

He was returned to Albania national team by same coach Gianni De Biasi receiving a call up 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

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

on 31 August 2016 and the

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 ...

opening match against Macedonia on 5 September 2016.

Personal life

Since 2012, Djimsiti has been in a relationship with Montenegrin model Alisa Milenković.

Career statistics

Club

International

Berat Djimsiti - national football team player
EU-football.info :''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Djimsiti goal.''

Honours

FC Zürich *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

: 2013–14, 2015-16

References

External links

Berat Djimsiti Profile
at the Atalanta B.C. website * * *
Berat Djimsiti profile
at

FSHF The Albanian Football Association ( sq, Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. The association is based in Tirana, Albania. It organises the national football leagues of the Albanian Superliga, the Fir ...

.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Djimsiti, Berat 1993 births Living people Footballers from Zürich Albanian footballers Swiss men's footballers Swiss people of Albanian descent Men's association football central defenders FC Zürich players Atalanta BC players U.S. Avellino 1912 players Benevento Calcio players Swiss Super League players Serie A players Serie B players Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's international footballers Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swiss expatriate footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy