Samir Ujkani (born 5 July 1988) is a former 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 lea ...

who is the current sports director of the Kosovo national team.

Early life

Ujkani was born in Resnik, a village near

Vushtrri Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria; sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн, ''Vučitrn'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District in Kosovo. According to the 2024 c ...

SAP Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / "; ; . Also abbreviated as SAP Kosovo. referre ...

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

, at the time part of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. His family then moved to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

six years after his birth.

Club career

Youth clubs

At the age of thirteen, Ujkani enrolled into

Ingelmunster Ingelmunster (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Ingelmunster proper and the village of Kriek. As of January 1, 2006, Ingelmunster had a total population of 10,617. ...

, spending six years there before moving to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. The Anderlecht football academy has a reputation of producing talented goalkeepers such as

Jacky Munaron Jacques "Jacky" Munaron (born 8 September 1956) is a Belgian former football goalkeeper. As goalkeeper coach, he most recently worked for futsal team FP Halle-Gooik until 2021. As a young player, Munaron started as the keeper of the youth team ...

. Ujkani played until June 2007 for the Anderlecht Under-19s, and made also ten appearances with their reserves team. In June 2007, he agreed to sign a five-year contract with

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

of Italy's

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

Palermo

Since then, Ujkani served as unused substitute in two

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

matches for Palermo, and several Serie A matches as well. He was confirmed as third-choice goalkeeper for the ''Rosaneros 2008–09 season, and later promoted as second goalkeeper after the club chose to transfer-list veteran goalkeeper Alberto Fontana. On 26 April 2009, Ujkani made his professional debut with Palermo, replacing injured

Marco Amelia Marco Amelia (; born 2 April 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and current coach in charge of Serie D amateurs Nuova Sondrio. A Roma youth product, Amelia spent most of his professional club career ...

during a Serie A match against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

at the

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

. His performance was congratulated from

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

at the end of the match. In July 2009, he was loaned out to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

club

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

in exchange with

Giacomo Brichetto Giacomo Brichetto (born 9 May 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Ruggell. Career Brichetto was born in Genoa, and spent most of his career in the lower ranks of Italian professional football. He j ...

, also in order to gain first team experience. On 14 June 2012, Palermo owner

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zamparini had business ...

confirmed that Ujkani will be playing on Palermo for the 2012–13 season. On 22 June 2012, Palermo announced from their website to have re-acquired the full transfer rights of Ujkani and fellow Novara player Michel Morganella. For Palermo's 2013–14 season, spent in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

after its previous season's relegation, he was used as a second-choice goalkeeper – receiving playing time – and being praised for his development relative to his previous stint with Palermo. During December and January 2014, he became temporary first-choice to cover for the injured Stefano Sorrentino. His contract with Palermo expired 30 June 2015.

Loan at Novara

He was loaned to Novara, and the loan was extended in 2010. On 31 January 2011, Palermo announced it had part of Ujkani's transfer rights to Novara as part of a bid involving striker Pablo González (€5 million).

Loan at Chievo

After the arrival of goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino at Palermo, Ujkani moved on loan to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

on 29 January 2013. In his short stint there, he did not play a single game, serving as back-up to Christian Puggioni, and was not acquired by the Verona-based club, thus making his return to Palermo by the end of season.

Genoa

On 19 July 2015,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

announced the signing of Ujkani on a free transfer, he did not play a single game.

Loan at Latina

On 8 January 2016, Ujkani joined

side Latina on loan. On 16 January 2016, he made his debut in a 1–0 home defeat against former club

after being named in the starting line-up.

Loan at Pisa

On 11 July 2016, Ujkani joined

side

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

on loan. On 7 August 2016, he made his debut with Pisa in the second round of

2016–17 Coppa Italia The 2016–17 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 70th edition of the domestic national tournament. Juventus successfully defended its title by defeating Lazio 2–0 in the final, becoming the first team to win t ...

against

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Cremonese

On 14 July 2017. Ujkani signed with the newly promoted team of

side

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. On 6 August 2017, he made his debut with Cremonese in the second round of 2017–18 Coppa Italia against

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . Entella will play in Serie B 2025/26 after winning ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Çaykur Rizespor

On 18 July 2018. Ujkani signed with the newly promoted team of

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

, on a three-year contract. On 26 September 2018, he made his debut for Çaykur Rizespor in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

of the

2018–19 Turkish Cup The 2018–19 Turkish Cup () was the 57th season of the tournament. Ziraat Bankası was the sponsor of the tournament, thus the sponsored name was Ziraat Turkish Cup. The winners will earn a berth in the group stage of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa ...

against Tarsus Idman Yurdu after being named in the starting line-up. From the beginning of 2019, Ujkani was excluded from the first team squad alongside 4 other foreign players and moved down to the U21 squad.

Retirement

On 1 November 2023 he announced his retirements from playing after 4 months being unattached since contract expiration with

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 River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

International career

Albania

Ujkani received an

Albanian passport The Albanian passport () is a travel document issued by the Ministry of the Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, alongside national identity cards (). The pa ...

in May 2007, and started playing for the Albania U21. He made his debut on 1 June in a European qualification match against Italy U21. On 6 October 2008, he received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up for the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

qualifying matches with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He made his full senior debut on 10 June 2009 in a 1–1 draw with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in Albania. Ujkani lost his starting place to

Etrit Berisha Etrit Fadil Berisha (; born 10 March 1989) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Allsvenskan club Häcken and captains the Albania national team. Berisha began his career at local club KF 2 Korriku as a youngste ...

during the 2014 World Cup qualification.

Kosovo

On 2 March 2014. Ujkani received a call-up from

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

for the first permitted by FIFA match against

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ujkani, Samir 1988 births Living people Footballers from Vushtrri Kosovo Albanians Men's association football goalkeepers Kosovan men's footballers 21st-century Kosovan sportsmen Kosovo men's international footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) R.S.C. Anderlecht players Palermo FC players Novara FC players AC ChievoVerona players Genoa CFC players Latina Calcio 1932 players Pisa SC players US Cremonese players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Torino FC players Empoli FC players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Süper Lig players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Albanian expatriate men's footballers 21st-century Albanian sportsmen