Imran Bunjaku (born 18 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.[1][2] Born in Switzerland, he plays for the Kosovo national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 October 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Zürich, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Grasshoppers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2014 | Grasshoppers II | 61 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Grasshoppers | 5 | (0) |
| 2014–2021 | Schaffhausen | 133 | (6) |
| 2021–2022 | Grasshoppers | 0 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Aarau (loan) | 25 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | Aarau | 23 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2014 | Albania U21 | 13 | (0) |
| 2014– | Kosovo | 3 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 June 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 October 2015 | |||
Club career
editBefore the 2021–22 season, he returned to Grasshoppers after six-and-a-half seasons at Schaffhausen. On 30 August 2021, he moved to Aarau on loan.[3] On 14 June 2022, he signed a one-year contract with an option to extend with Aarau, after his contract at Grasshoppers was not renewed.[4]
International career
editOriginating from Kosovo with ethnic Albanian parents and born in Switzerland, Bunjaku was eligible to play for Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo if a national team should be formed, but in March 2011 he answered the call by Albania's Under-21 coach Artan Bushati for a non official friendly tournament held in Slovenia.[5]
He officially gained Albanian citizenship on 26 August 2011 along with his Grasshopper teammate Mërgim Brahimi, in order to compete in the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers.[6][7]
In 2014 Bunjaku received call-up from Kosovo[8] and he made his debut for Kosovo on 25 May 2014 in a friendly match against Senegal.
On 7 September 2024, in another friendly game against Oman, he scored his first and only goal for Kosovo, becoming at 21 years and 10 months the country’s youngest goalscorer.[9] This record was broken on 13 November 2015 by Bersant Celina who was 19 years and 2 months when he scored against Albania.[10]
He earned his third and final cap with Kosovo on 10 October 2015 during a friendly match against Equatorial Guinea.[11]
References
edit- ^ UEFA Profile
- ^ Footballdatabase profile
- ^ "BUNJAKU ON LOAN TO FC AARAU RIBEIRO LEAVES GC". Grasshoppers. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- ^ "Imran Bunjaku hat seinen Vertrag beim FC Aarau verlängert". nau.ch. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Bushati merr 10 talentë në Slloveni" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ "Brahimi e Bunjaku bëhen "shqiptarë"" (in Albanian). Koha. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Brahimi e Bunjaku bëhen "shqiptarë"" (in Albanian). RTV 21. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Më 31 gusht nis grumbullimi i Përfaqësueses" (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ "Kosovo v Oman". 11v11. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Kosovo vs Albania, 13 November 2015". Eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Imran Bunjaku, international footballer". Eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
External links
edit- Imran Bunjaku at National-Football-Teams.com
- Imran Bunjaku at Soccerway