Leon Dajaku

Leon Dajaku
Dajaku with VfB Stuttgart in December 2018
Personal information
Full name Leon Dajaku[1]
Date of birth (2001-04-12) 12 April 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Waiblingen, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
 Hajduk Split
Number 22
Youth career
0000 Spvgg Rommelshausen
0000–2014 FSV Waiblingen
2014–2019 VfB Stuttgart
2019–2020 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 VfB Stuttgart 2 (0)
2019 VfB Stuttgart II 1 (0)
2019–2021 Bayern Munich II 43 (7)
2019–2021 Bayern Munich 2 (0)
2021 → Union Berlin (loan) 2 (0)
2021–2022 Union Berlin 0 (0)
2021–2022 → Sunderland (loan) 22 (4)
2022–2023 Sunderland 10 (0)
2023 → St. Gallen (loan) 12 (0)
2023– Hajduk Split 23 (4)
International career‡
2017–2018 Germany U17 14 (3)
2018–2019 Germany U18 3 (1)
2019 Germany U19 6 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2019

Leon Dajaku (born 12 April 2001) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for SuperSport HNL club Hajduk Split.

Club career

VfB Stuttgart

Dajaku began his youth career with Spvgg Rommelshausen and FSV Waiblingen, before moving to the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 2014.[2]

Dajaku made his professional debut for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on 9 December 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute for Anastasios Donis in the 0–3 away loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[3]

Bayern Munich

On 16 July 2019, Dajaku joined Bayern Munich on a four-year contract. He was subsequently assigned to the reserve team in the 3. Liga.[4] On 21 December 2019, he made his first team debut in a Bundesliga 2–0 home win against VfL Wolfsburg.

Loan to Union Berlin

On 16 January 2021, Dajaku signed a six-month loan deal with Union Berlin with the option to purchase.[5]

Union Berlin

On 31 August 2021, Union Berlin activated the purchase clause in the loan agreement for Dajaku. The fee was rumoured to be €1 million.[6]

Sunderland

On 31 August 2021, Dajaku signed a season-long loan deal with EFL League 1 club Sunderland AFC.[7] He scored his first goal for Sunderland against Cheltenham Town on 28 September 2021.[8]

Following the loan, Dajaku moved to Sunderland on a permanent basis in June 2022 and signed a two-year contract.[9]

On 26 January 2023, Dajaku joined Swiss Super League club St. Gallen on loan until the end of the season.[10][11]

Hajduk Split

On 26 June 2023, Dajaku joined Croatian club Hajduk Split on a free transfer. Upon his arrival, Dajaku was assigned the 22 shirt and agreed to a four-year contract.

International career

Dajaku was included in Germany's squad for the 2018 edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in England, where he scored twice in the 3–0 win against Serbia.[12] However, the German team was eliminated in the group stage.[13]

Personal life

Dajaku was born in Waiblingen, Germany to Kosovo Albanian parents from Skenderaj.[14][15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
VfB Stuttgart II 2018–19 Regionalliga Südwest 1 0 — — — 1 0
VfB Stuttgart 2018–19 Bundesliga 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
Bayern Munich II 2019–20 3. Liga 29 4 — — — 29 4
2020–21 3. Liga 14 3 — — — 14 3
Total 43 7 0 0 — — 43 7
Bayern Munich 2019–20 Bundesliga 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2020–21 Bundesliga 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Union Berlin 2020–21 Bundesliga 2 0 — — — 2 0
Sunderland (loan) 2021–22 League One 22 4 3 0 0 0 2[b] 0 27 4
Sunderland 2022–23 Championship 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Career total 82 11 4 0 0 0 2 0 88 11
  1. ^ Includes DFB Pokal, FA Cup, EFL Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Bayern Munich

Sunderland

References

  1. ^ "EFL Squad List 2022/23: Sunderland – Under 21 Contract players" (PDF). English Football League. 7 September 2022. p. 127. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Markus Weinzierl befördert zwei 17-Jährige" [Markus Weinzierl promotes two 17-year-olds]. stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Stuttgart: Stuttgarter Zeitung. 15 November 2018. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Bor. Mönchengladbach – VfB Stuttgart 3:0 (Bundesliga 2018/2019, 14. Round)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Leon Dajaku wechselt zum FC Bayern". fcbayern.de. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Leon Dajaku completes move to Union from Bayern". fc-union-berlin.de. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Hoffmann loaned to Sunderland - Dajaku makes permanent switch to Union". fcbayern.com. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Leon Dajaku signs for English side Sunderland". Union Berlin. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Sunderland 5-0 Cheltenham". BBC. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  9. ^ "SEASON TWO: Dajaku ready to go". Sunderland. 26 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Dajaku joins FC St. Gallen". www.safc.com. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Leon Dajaku leihweise zum FCSG" [Leon Dajaku on loan to FCSG]. www.fcsg.ch (in German). 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Under-17: Serbia v Germany". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Das ist der Kader für die U 17-EM" [This is the squad for the European Under-17 Championship]. DFB.de (in German). German Football Association. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  14. ^ Engstrom, Aineias (1 December 2017). "Spieler-Portrait: Leon Dajaku, 16 Jahre" [Player portrait: Leon Dajaku, 16 years old]. lattenkreuz.de (in German). Lattenkreuz – Aktuelle Fußballnachrichten. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  15. ^ "ZYRTARE: Talenti nga Skenderaj transferohet tek Bayern Munich" [OFFICIAL: The talent from Skenderaj is transferred to Bayern Munich]. Gazeta Olle (in Albanian). 16 July 2019.
  16. ^ Leon Dajaku at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. ^ Paddy, Chris (21 May 2022). "Sunderland 2–0 Wycombe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2022.