Loret Sadiku (born 28 July 1991) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Turkish club Kasımpaşa.

Loret Sadiku
Sadiku with Mersin İdman Yurdu in 2014
Personal information
Full name Loret Sadiku[1]
Date of birth (1991-07-28) 28 July 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Kasımpaşa
Number 26
Youth career
2002 Hånger IF
2003–2008 IFK Värnamo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 IFK Värnamo 71 (2)
2012–2014 Helsingborgs IF 57 (3)
2014–2016 Mersin İdman Yurdu 55 (2)
2016–2022 Kasımpaşa 135 (2)
2022–2024 Hammarby IF 45 (1)
2024– Kasımpaşa 17 (0)
International career
2012 Sweden U21 3 (0)
2014–2015 Kosovo 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 September 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 November 2015

Early life

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Born in SFR Yugoslavia, Sadiku was raised in Sweden and started to play youth football with local club Hånger IF in Värnamo. In 2003, he joined the youth setup of IFK Värnamo, the town's biggest club.[2]

Club career

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IFK Värnamo

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In 2009, Sadiku was promoted to Värnamo's first team and made his professional debut in Ettan, Sweden's third tier. He was part of what would be known as a golden generation in the history of the club, together with players like Viktor Claesson, Simon Thern, Niklas Hult and Joseph Baffo. In 2010, Värnamo won a promotion to Superettan.[2][3]

In 2011, led by head coach Jonas Thern, Värnamo finished 13th in the Superettan table. Sadiku made 29 league appearances, scoring twice, and appeared in both relegation play-off legs against Väsby United, which the club won by 3–0 on aggregate.[4][5]

Helsingborgs IF

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On 20 January 2012, Sadiku transferred to Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF.[6] Two months later, he won the 2012 Svenska Supercupen with the club, through a 2–0 win against AIK.[7] As defending Swedish champions, Helsingborg finished 6th in Allsvenskan, in which Sadiku made 19 appearances.[4] Throughout the season, he also played five games in 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, before Helsingborg was knocked out in the play-off round by Celtic by 0–4 on aggregate.[8]

In 2013, Sadiku played 27 league games, scoring twice, as Helsingborg finished 5th in the Allsvenskan table.[9] Halfway through the 2014 season, after making 11 league appearances, Sadiku sought a move elsewhere and reportedly attracted interest from rival Malmö FF.[10][11]

Turkish Süper Lig

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On 28 June 2014, Sadiku signed a three-year contract with Mersin İdman Yurdu, newly promoted to the Turkish Süper Lig, together with Abdul Khalili from Helsingborg.[12][13]

On 17 August 2016, Sadiku transferred to Kasımpaşa for a fee of €2 million, signing a three-year contract.[14][15] On 12 January 2019, Sadiku signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with the club.[16]

Hammarby IF

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On 18 February 2022, Sadiku signed a three-year contract with Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, thus returning to Sweden after eight years abroad.[17] Sadiku featured in the final of the 2021–22 Svenska Cupen, in which Hammarby lost by 4–5 on penalties to Malmö FF after the game ended in a 0–0 draw.[18][19] In early July, Sadiku tested positive for COVID-19 and suffered from persistent symptoms that kept him sidelined for almost two months.[20][21][22] He ended the season making 21 league appearances, helping his side to finish 3rd in the 2022 Allsvenskan table.[4]

International

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Sweden

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Under-21

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On 31 May 2012, Sadiku made his debut for Sweden U21 after being named in the starting line-up in a 2013 UEFA Under-21 qualification against Ukraine U21 and was nominated "Newcomer of the year".[23]

Kosovo

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On 2 March 2014, Sadiku received a call-up from Kosovo for the nation's first permitted by FIFA match against Haiti[24] and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.[25]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 12 November 2023[8]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
IFK Värnamo 2009 Division 1 21 0 1 0 22 0
2010 21 0 1 0 22 0
2011 Superettan 29 0 0 0 2[a] 0 31 0
Total 71 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 75 2
Helsingborgs IF 2012 Allsvenskan 19 0 0 0 1[b] 0 20 0
2013 27 2 4 2 5[c] 0 31 4
2014 11 1 4 0 15 0
Total 57 3 8 2 5 0 1 0 71 5
Mersin İdman Yurdu 2014–15 Süper Lig 26 2 6 0 32 2
2015–16 29 0 0 0 29 0
Total 55 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 61 2
Kasımpaşa 2016–17 Süper Lig 25 0 6 0 31 0
2017–18 30 0 0 0 30 0
2018–19 29 1 5 0 34 1
2019–20 9 0 0 0 9 0
2020–21 31 0 1 0 32 0
2021–22 11 1 0 0 11 1
Total 135 2 12 0 0 0 0 0 147 2
Hammarby IF 2022 Allsvenskan 21 0 3 0 24 0
2023 24 1 5 0 2[d] 0 31 1
Total 45 1 8 0 2 0 0 0 55 1
Career total 363 10 36 2 7 0 3 0 409 12
  1. ^ Appearances in the Superettan relegation play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in Svenska Supercupen
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

References

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  1. ^ "Loret Sadiku". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Talangfabriken IFK Värnamo" (in Swedish). IFK Värnamo. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  3. ^ Glavas, Jozo (24 February 2017). "Så gick det sen för Värnamos gyllene generation". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Loret Sadiku" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Nytt kontrakt även för IFK Värnamo" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. ^ "KLART: Loret Sadiku går till Helsingborg" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Bouaouzan sköt Supercupen till Helsingborg" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Loret Sadiku". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Helsingborgs IF Verksamhetsberättelse 2013" (PDF) (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Mittbacksstjärnan lämnar HIF – kan hamna i MFF" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Helsingborgs IF Verksamhetsberättelse 2014" (PDF) (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Helsingborgs IF Verksamhetsberättelse 2014" (PDF) (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Zyrtare: Loret Sadiku firmos me turqit e Mersinit" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 28 June 2014.
  14. ^ "Pas Herolind Shalës, edhe Sadiku nënshkruan me Kasimpasan". Gazeta Zeri (in Albanian). 18 August 2016.
  15. ^ "Sadiku Kasımpaşamızda" (in Turkish). Kasımpaşa. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Sadiku ile sözleşme yenilendi" (in Turkish). Kasımpaşa. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Loret Sadiku till Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Straffar gav MFF första cupguldet på 33 år" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Bajen golvat från elva meter i titelmatchen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Genomgång av skadeläget i herrtruppen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Skadeläget i herrtruppen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Så ser skadeläget ut" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  23. ^ "Sadiku: "Albanien visade mest kärlek"" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013.
  24. ^ "Kosova shpall listën anti-Haiti". Albeu (in Albanian). 2 March 2014.
  25. ^ "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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