Gëzim Shalaj (born 28 July 1990) is a Swiss

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 lea ...

of Albanian descent who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Swiss 1. Liga club

FC Naters FC Naters is a Swiss football club from the town of Naters in Canton Valais. The team currently plays in Liga 1., the fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. History FC Naters was founded in 1958 and played their first game on 1 ...

. He began his career with Swiss lower league side

Düdingen Düdingen (; ; , locally ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sense (district), Sense in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a la ...

, before winning a move to

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

club

Kriens Kriens is a city and a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality lies at the foot of the mountain Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne. History In the oldest documents of the Bened ...

in 2010. After just over two seasons with Kriens, he joined

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

side

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

but played just once in the top flight, in March 2012, before returning to the Challenge League to play for

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

later in 2012. After two seasons with Lugano, he joined the Romanian

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

side

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative b ...

for the 2014–15 campaign. He signed with

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

in October 2015 but left the club after just two months. He spent the second half of the 2015–16 season with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Enosis Neon Paralimni Enosis Neon Paralimni Football Club (, ''Enosi Neon Paralimniou''; ), commonly referred to as ENP, is a Cypriot football team from Paralimni. Currently playing in the first division, it holds home games at the Paralimni Municipal Stadium "Ta ...

. He signed with English League One side

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in August 2016. He signed with Trepça'89 in the Superleague of Kosovo in January 2018 before returning to Switzerland the following year to play for Breitenrain Bern and Naters.

Career

Switzerland

Shalaj was born in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and is of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n descent. He spent a brief time in the

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

in 2008. He began his senior career at

, scoring two goals in 14 1. Liga (third tier) appearances in the first half of the 2009–10 campaign. He moved on to

(second tier) side

for the second half of the 2009–10 season. He made his debut for Kriens on 7 March, coming on as a

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

substitute for Thierry Stadelmann in a 0–0 draw with

Lausanne-Sport Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League Season. The ...

at the

Stade olympique de la Pontaise Stade Olympique de la Pontaise is a multi-purpose stadium in Lausanne, Switzerland. The stadium holds 15,700 people and was opened in 1954. The stadium is used primarily for football matches. It is currently the home ground of FC Stade Lausann ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 May, in a 6–2 win over

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

Stadion Kleinfeld SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, that currently competing in the Promotion League, the third tier of Swiss football. The club uses Stadion Kleinfeld as home ground, and form a local rivalry with FC Luzern. SC Kriens ...

. He went on to become a first-team regular in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, missing just one league game, though 11 of his league appearances were as a substitute. He began the 2011–12 season with three goals in 14 games, before he was signed to

side

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Murat Yakin Murat Yakin ( ; born 15 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Switzerland national team. In 2021, following stints as manager at Swiss clubs including Basel, Grasshoppers and Sion, he was appoint ...

. However, he struggled with injuries and played just one top-flight game for the "Luminaries", coming on as a half-time substitute for Nelson Ferreira in a 2–1 defeat by

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

Stade de Genève Stade de Genève (Stadium of Geneva), also called Stade de la Praille, is a stadium in Lancy, Canton of Geneva. It has a capacity of 30,084. Overview The stadium was completed in 2003 by Implenia, Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three y ...

on 11 March 2012. He returned to the Challenge League for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

campaign, joining

. He scored four goals in 20 matches as Lugano finished seventh in the 2012–13 season and then scored one in 27 appearances in the 2013–14 campaign as the club posted a second-place finish, nine points behind promoted champions

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

. He received the first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

of his career on 14 May 2014, in a 3–0 win over Locarno at

Stadio del Lido Stadio del Lido is a football stadium in Locarno, Switzerland. It is the home ground of FC Locarno and has a capacity of 5,000. The stadium has 1,000 seats and 4,000 standing places. See also *List of football stadiums in Switzerland Externa ...

. Both he and teammate Jonathan Sabbatini were contacted by betting fraudsters who wanted to rig a match, but Shalaj and Sabbatini reported the incident to the

Swiss Football Association The Swiss Football Association (, , , ) is the governing body of football in Switzerland. It organizes the football league, the Swiss Football League and the Switzerland national football team. It is based in Bern. It was formed in 1895, was a ...

Romania

Shalaj signed a one-year

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

, with the option for two more seasons, at Romanian

side

in July 2014. He picked up a toe injury in December, which kept him out of action for a month. He ended the 2014–15 campaign with three goals and made six assists in 33 league and cup appearances, including one goal in a 3–1 win over champions Steaua București at the

Stadionul Municipal Stadionul Municipal may refer to several sports stadiums: Moldova * Stadionul Municipal (Hîncești), a football stadium * Stadionul Municipal (Tiraspol), a multi-use stadium Romania * Stadionul Municipal (Alexandria), a multi-use stadium, home ...

on 15 March. The goal against Steaua București saw him named on the Liga I team of the week, alongside his midfield teammates Mihai Pintilii, Mihai Roman, and Dan Nistor. He played three matches of the club's run to the 2015 Cupa Ligii final, including a substitute appearance against

in the first leg of the semi-final. He joined Dinamo București in October 2015. He played 169 minutes across seven games before he had his contract cancelled by mutual agreement in December 2015.

Enosis Neon Paralimni

Shalaj moved to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

to play for

club

in February 2016. He scored on his debut on 6 February, in a 2–0 victory over

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

Tsirion Stadium The Tsirio Stadium () is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Limassol, Cyprus. The stadium holds 13,331 people and is mostly used for football matches. It was the home ground of the three biggest clubs in Limassol, which have now moved to t ...

. The club were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Port Vale

In August 2016, Shalaj signed a one-year contract with

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

. Manager

Bruno Ribeiro Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro (born 22 October 1975) is a Portuguese former football manager and player. A midfielder with a powerful left-foot strike, he began his playing career with hometown club Vitória Setúbal from 1994 to 1997, befo ...

said that Shalaj was "very strong for English football" but would need time to build his fitness as he missed out on pre-season training.

Later career

On 8 January 2018, Shalaj joined the defending Superleague of Kosovo champions Trepça'89. He returned to his native country to sign for

Swiss Promotion League The Promotion League, named the Hoval Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over course of the season. The champions are prom ...

side Breitenrain Bern at the end of the 2018–19 season. Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Shalaj joined Swiss 1. Liga side

Style of play

Speaking in July 2012, Luzern manager Murat Yakin described Shalaj as "very fast" with a "strong left foot". Speaking in September 2016, Shalaj said that "I am left-footed, I play on the wing and I like to

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

, I like to go one against one and get balls into the striker".

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Profile
at Swiss Football League {{DEFAULTSORT:Shalaj, Gëzim 1990 births Living people Footballers from Bern Swiss people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Swiss men's footballers Men's association football wingers Dynamo Dresden players SC Kriens players FC Luzern players FC Lugano players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players FC Dinamo București players Enosis Neon Paralimni FC players Port Vale F.C. players KF Trepça '89 players FC Breitenrain Bern players FC Naters players Liga I players Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players Swiss Promotion League players Cypriot First Division players English Football League players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in England Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Kosovo Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo 21st-century Swiss sportsmen