Nedim Bajrami

Nedim Bajrami
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-02-28) 28 February 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Zürich, Switzerland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Rangers
Number 14
Youth career
2009–2017 Grasshoppers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Grasshoppers U21 14 (4)
2017–2020 Grasshoppers 69 (6)
2019–2023 Empoli 118 (17)
2023–2024 Sassuolo 48 (3)
2024– Rangers 11 (1)
International career‡
2013 Switzerland U15 5 (0)
2014 Switzerland U16 7 (0)
2015–2016 Switzerland U17 13 (5)
2016–2017 Switzerland U18 4 (0)
2016–2017 Switzerland U19 9 (3)
2018–2021 Switzerland U21 11 (1)
2021– Albania 29 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:08, 09 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 June 2024

Nedim Bajrami (born 28 February 1999) is a footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Born in Switzerland, he plays for the Albania national team.

Club career

Grasshoppers

Born in Switzerland to ethnic Albanian parents (father from Tetovo and mother from Gostivar),[1][2][3] Bajrami spent all of his youth career with professional side Grasshoppers. He signed his first professional contract alongside teammates Petar Pušić and Arijan Qollaku in February 2017,[4] and made his debut the same month, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 loss to FC Thun.[5]

Empoli

On 13 August 2019, Bajrami joined Italian Serie B club Empoli on loan with an option to buy.[6]

Sassuolo

On 31 January 2023, Bajrami moved to Sassuolo on loan with an obligation to buy.[7]

Rangers

On 30 August 2024, Bajrami joined Rangers in Scotland.[8] Bajrami scored his first Rangers goal in a 2-0 victory away at Malmö in matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League on 26 September 2024. On 3 November 2024, Bajrami scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Motherwell in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup. On 15 December 2024, he scored Rangers opening goal in the League Cup final.

International career

Bajrami represented Switzerland in various youth sides up to under-21 level. He played for the Switzerland U17 team in their unsuccessful European Under-17 Championship qualification bid in 2016, featuring in all their six games.[9] He scored a total of five goals for the under-17 side, including a brace against Montenegro in 2015.[10] On 9 March 2021, Switzerland's U-21 manager Mauro Lustrinelli confirmed that Bajrami chose to switch allegiances and represent his country of origin, Albania.[11] Mauro stated “We tried to convince Bajrami to continue playing for Switzerland but he told us that his heart beats for Albania. For us in the national team, identification is one of the main values, so we had no choice but to let him leave.”[12]

On 17 March 2021, he received Albanian citizenship, thus needing only a permission by FIFA to become eligible to play for the Albania national team.[13] He received the go-ahead from the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 30 August 2021.[14] He debuted with Albania in a 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification victory against Hungary on 5 September 2021, coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute for Qazim Laçi.[15] On 17 June 2023, he scored his first goal for Albania in a 2–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying win over Moldova.[16]

In June 2024, Bajrami was called up to represent Albania at UEFA Euro 2024.[17] In their opening group stage match against defending champions Italy, Bajrami scored the fastest goal in UEFA European Championship history, only 23 seconds into the match, in an eventual 2–1 loss.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 15 December 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Grasshoppers U21 2015–16 Swiss 1. Liga 1 0 – – 0 0 1 0
2016–17 12 4 – – 0 0 12 4
2017–18 1 0 – – 0 0 1 0
Total 14 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 4
Grasshoppers 2016–17 Swiss Super League 7 0 0 0 – 0 0 7 0
2017–18 29 3 4 0 – 0 0 33 3
2018–19 33 3 2 0 – 0 0 35 3
2019–20 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 0 0
Total 69 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 75 6
Empoli (loan) 2019–20 Serie B 28 5 1 0 – 1[b] 0 30 5
Empoli 2020–21 Serie B 36 5 3 2 – 0 0 39 7
2021–22 Serie A 35 6 3 3 – – 38 9
2022–23 Serie A 19 1 1 0 – – 20 1
Total 118 17 8 5 0 0 1 0 127 22
Sassuolo (loan) 2022–23 Serie A 18 1 0 0 – – 18 1
Sassuolo 2023–24 Serie A 28 2 3 1 – – 31 3
2024–25 Serie B 2 0 1 0 – – 3 0
Total 30 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 34 3
Rangers 2024–25 Scottish Premiership 11 1 0 0 6 1 3[c] 2 20 4
Career total 260 31 18 6 6 1 4 2 288 39
  1. ^ Includes Swiss Cup, Coppa Italia, Scottish Cup
  2. ^ Appearance in Serie B promotion play-offs
  3. ^ Appearances in Scottish League Cup

International

As of match played 24 June 2024[20][21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Albania 2021 6 0
2022 4 0
2023 9 3
2024 7 2
Total 26 5

Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Nedim Bajrami
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 17 June 2023 Arena Kombëtare, Tirana, Albania  Moldova 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
2. 20 June 2023 Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands  Faroe Islands 1–0 3–1
3. 7 September 2023 Fortuna Arena, Prague, Czech Republic  Czech Republic 1–1 1–1
4. 7 June 2024 Haladás Sportkomplexum, Szombathely, Hungary  Azerbaijan 1–0 3–1 Friendly
5. 15 June 2024 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany  Italy 1–0 1–2 UEFA Euro 2024
6. 19 November 2024 Arena Kombëtare, Tirana, Albania  Ukraine 1–2 1–2 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B

Honours

Empoli

References

  1. ^ "Dorëzohen Zviceranët, Tetovari Nedim Bajrami: Zemra Ime Rrah "Kuqezi"" (in Albanian). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Më i miri në dy ndeshjet e fundit për Kombëtaren, Nedim Bajrami pritet si hero në Tetovë" (in Albanian). 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Who is Nedim Bajrami, the 24-year-old Albanian who refused to choose Switzerland (he even fought)". 8 September 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Harun Alpsoy wechselt in die Türkei" (in German). fm1today. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Geglückte und gescheiterte Experimente zum Rückrunden-Auftakt" (in German). srf.ch. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  6. ^ "UFFICIALE: Empoli, dalla Svizzera arriva il centrocampista Bajrami". Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ^ "NEDIM BAJRAMI È UN NUOVO CALCIATORE DEL SASSUOLO" (in Italian). U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Nedim Bajrami Joins Rangers From Sassuolo". Rangers. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Nedim Bajrami". UEFA. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Statistik und Resultate". Swiss Football Association (in German). 19 August 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Kurz vor EM gibt Bajrami der Nati einen Korb Albanien klaut uns unser U21-Juwel". Blick (in German). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Nedim Bajrami, the Euro 2024 record-breaker who went to court to play for Albania". NY Times. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Dekret për dhënie të shtetësisë shqiptare nr. 12024" [Decree on granting Albanian citizenship no. 12024] (in Albanian). qbz.gov.al. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Nedim Bajrami zyrtarisht pjesë e Shqipërisë, KAS jep vendimin" [Nedim Bajrami officially part of albania, CAS gives decision] (in Albanian). Vizion Plus. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Albania 1–0 Hungary - FIFA World Cup Qualifier". fifa.com. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Albania 2–0 Moldova (Jun 17, 2023)". ESPN. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Trajneri Silvinjo publikon listën e Kombëtares me emrat e 26 lojtarëve për Kampionatin Europian "Gjermani 2024"" [Coach Sylvinho publishes the national team list with the names of 26 players for the European Championship "Germany 2024"] (in Albanian). Albanian Football Association. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Who scored the fastest goals at UEFA European Championship final tournaments?". UEFA. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  19. ^ Nedim Bajrami at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Nedim Bajrami". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  21. ^ Nedim Bajrami at EU-Football.info