Eros Genc Grezda (born 15 April 1995) is an Albanian 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 winger for Turkish club

Manisa Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province. Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port ci ...

and the Albania national team.

Early life

Grezda was born in

Đakovica Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

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 of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

(modern day Gjakova,

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 ...

) and grew up in the capital

Pristina 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 an ...

. He is the third child of Genc and Valbona Grezda.

Club career

Early career

Eros Grezda started his career at

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 ...

, playing there between the ages of 9 and 15. He subsequently moved for a short while to Rabotnički where he was scouted by

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, where he soon moved and spent 1 year playing with the under-17 side.

Austria and Slovenia

Grezda's first taste of senior football was in Austria, where he moved in the summer of 2012, signing for

Grazer AK Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...

's lower league reserve side. He played in merely two games before moving on. Grezda arrived in Slovenia in the summer of 2013, signing for second-tier

NK Aluminij Nogometni klub Aluminij ( en, Aluminij Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Aluminij or simply Aluminij, is a Slovenian football club from Kidričevo, playing in the Slovenian Second League. The club was founded in 1946. Honours ;Yugoslav ...

. He stayed in

Kidričevo Kidričevo () is a town near Ptuj in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kidričevo. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Drava Statistical Region. The town is i ...

for a year and a half, accumulating 29 caps and 6 goals for the first team. He then moved up a tier, signing for the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...

side

NK Zavrč Nogometni klub Zavrč or simply NK Zavrč was a Slovenian football club from Zavrč. The club was founded in 1969, but ceased operations in 2016 due to financial difficulties. The same year, the club was refounded as DNŠ Zavrč and started a ...

on 23 January 2015 alongside Antonio Pavić.

Lokomotiva

On 9 July 2015 Grezda signed for Lokomotiva in the

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

for a fee of €100,000. He scored twice against Slaven Belupo on 23 December 2015 in a 3–0 win and was named best player of the week. He scored another brace against Osijek on 27 February 2016 in a match which finished in a 1–3 victory. He scored the first and last goals in the 9th and 90th minutes. On 20 April he was selected in the team of the week. On 8 May 2016 Grezda scored his 9th goal of the season in the derby against

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

where Lokomotiva won 2–0. Grezda assisted the fellow Albanian U21 international

Endri Çekiçi Endri Çekiçi (born 23 November 1996) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish club Konyaspor and the Albania national team. Club career Early career Çekiçi started his career with his local club Pogradeci i ...

's goal against Osijek on 25 February 2017 in the 32nd minute, providing a cross from right side as Lokomotiva won 2–0. Grezda scored 1 goal and won a penalty kick himself on 7 April 2017 against Cibalia where Lokomotiva won 4–1. A week later Grezda scored again, in the

derby against

in a 1–2 loss where Grezda scored the opening goal in the 5th minute.

Osijek

On 25 May 2017 Grezda signed a transfer to Osijek which gained him the right to play in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League qualifying round. On 13 July 2017 Grezda scored his first UEFA club competition goal in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round first leg match against Swiss side Luzern which Osijek won 2–0. In the second leg against Luzern 1 week later, Grezda assisted the only Osijek goal scored by Muzafer Ejupi; the match finished in a 2–1 loss, however Osijek advanced into the next round by winning 3–2 on aggregate. Grezda scored his first league goal on 9 September 2017 against Hajduk Split in the 93rd minute to give Osijek the 2–1 win. Following his impressive performance and the importance of his goal in the later win, Grezda was chosen as the best player of the week.

Rangers

On 31 August 2018, Rangers of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

confirmed the signing of Grezda on a four-year contract, subject to receiving visa and international clearance. On 20 September 2019, Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said Grezda would not play for the club again after an incident during a Tunnock’s Cup match between Rangers' under-21s and Northern Irish team

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the ...

: Grezda clashed with opposition defender Andrew Burns and allegedly spat on the player during the game. Several Rangers players visited opposition manager David Jeffrey to apologise afterwards, and in a statement to the media, Gerrard said the player would no longer represent the club if the allegations were confirmed. Grezda, who had not played for the Rangers first team since April 2019 after falling out of favour, was also fined for his conduct after the matter was investigated.

Return to Osijek

On 6 January 2020, it was announced that Grezda had returned to his former side Osijek for an undisclosed fee after failing to break into the Rangers side.

International career

Albania U21

Grezda is a

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub- ...

and initially only had

citizenship but declared that he was waiting on an invitation by the

Albanian Football Association 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 F ...

. He first received a call up from Albania under-21s coach

Skënder Gega Skënder Gega (born 14 November 1963) is an Albanian retired football player and current manager. Playing career Club Gega played the majority of his career at Partizani, an Albanian team, whilst also having a two-year stint with German side ...

in August 2014 for a friendly against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

, but due to visa problems the game which was planned to be played in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

did not go ahead. He was again called up in September for a friendly against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 8 October 2014. He made his debut for Albania U21 in 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 Romania U21 on 8 October 2014, playing as a starter in a 3–1 loss. Following his good form with Lokomotiva, Grezda again grabbed the attention of the Albanian Football Association and he received a call up by coach

Redi Jupi Redi Jupi (born 31 May 1974) is an Albanian retired footballer. He played in the central midfield for KS Dinamo Tirana and has 19 caps for the Albania national team since his debut in 1995. Jupi is currently the manager of Albania U21 for the ...

for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Poland in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship tournament ...

matches against Greece U21 and Hungary U21 on 24 & 28 March 2016 respectively. However, due to the absence of Albanian citizenship Grezda could not feature in either game. He received Albanian citizenship on 31 March 2016 alongside fellow Albania under-21 member Jasir Asani. He was called up for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Greece U21 on 2 September 2016. He debuted against Greece U21 playing as a starter and substituting off at half-time for Kostandin Kariqi due to injury.

Senior team

Grezda got his first call up to the Albania senior team by 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 t ...

for 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 ...

matches against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in October 2016. He was an unused substitute in both occasions. He was called up then for the 5th 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification fixture against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 24 March 2017 and the

against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

on 28 March 2017. Grezda made his first senior debut on 24 March 2017 against Italy coming on as a substitute in the 87th minute in place of

Odise Roshi Odise Roshi (born 22 May 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Turkish club Sakaryaspor and the Albania national team. Roshi started his professional career with his hometown club Apolonia Fier whom he pl ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

*
Prva momčad
NK Lokomotiva * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grezda, Eros 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Gjakova Kosovo Albanians Albanian footballers Kosovan footballers Albania youth international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Albania international footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Slovenian PrvaLiga players Croatian Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players TFF First League players NK Aluminij players NK Zavrč players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players NK Osijek players Rangers F.C. players Zalaegerszegi TE players HNK Šibenik players Manisa FK footballers Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Hungary Expatriate footballers in Turkey