Donis Avdijaj

Donis Xhemë Avdijaj (born 25 August 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward who most recently played for Scottish club Heart of Midlothian and the Kosovo national team. He previously represented Germany at youth international level.

Donis Avdijaj

Avdijaj with Sturm Graz in 2015.
Personal information
Full name	Donis Xhemë Avdijaj
Date of birth	(1996-08-25) 25 August 1996
Place of birth	Osnabrück, Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2001–2006	SV Atter
2006–2011	VfL Osnabrück
2011–2014	Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014	Schalke 04 II	11	(4)
2014–2018	Schalke 04	9	(2)
2014–2016	→ Sturm Graz (loan)	42	(9)
2018	→ Roda JC (loan)	11	(3)
2018–2019	Willem II	15	(4)
2019–2020	Trabzonspor	8	(1)
2020	Heart of Midlothian	3	(0)
National team^‡
2011	Germany U16	2	(2)
2012–2014	Germany U17	13	(10)
2013–2014	Germany U19	2	(0)
2017–	Kosovo	6	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 June 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2018

Early life

Avdijaj was born in Osnabrück, Germany from Kosovo Albanian parents from Istok, he attended the Gesamtschule Berger Feld until 2012–13.[1]

Club career

Schalke 04

After scoring 59 goals in 53 matches for U17 and 17 goals in 24 games for U19, Avdijaj became a first team player.[2] He was called up for the first time in a major competition on 17 September 2014 to participate in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Chelsea, where he didn't come on to play.[3]

Loan at Sturm Graz

On 13 January 2015, in the winter transfer window, Avdijaj went on an 18-month loan deal at Austrian side Sturm Graz. He made his debut for Sturm Graz in a friendly match against Kalsdorf and scored a goal.[4]

2014–15 season

On 21 February 2015. He made his professional debut in a 3–3 home draw against Wiener Neustadt. He came in as a substitute in the 81st minute in place of Bright Edomwonyi and just 2 minutes later, Avdijaj made an assist for the temporary advantage goal 3–2 scored by Martin Ehrenreich.[5] In his second ever match for the senior squad, Avdijaj played only as a substitute against Rapid Wien, coming on in the 73rd minute in place of Daniel Offenbacher for the 1–0 loss.[6] Then in his third match, Avdijaj played for the first time in the starting line up against Austria Wien on 3 March 2015 where he substituted off in the 64th minute for exactly his rival Bright Edomwonyi, whose place Avdijaj had previously taken in his debut.[7] He scored his first goal for Sturm Graz in his 7th match on 21 March 2015 against Admira, playing as a starter and scoring the opening goal in the 28th minute in the 3–1 victory.[8] After the 26th game week Avdijaj established himself in the starting line up playing as a side midfielder mostly on the left side, attacking midfielder and also as a second striker.

He ended the season with total of 17 appearances, 12 as a starter including 8 full 90-minute matches where he managed to score in total 6 goals and provided 3 assists. Sturm Graz finished 4th in the league table to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.[9]

2015–16 season

On 18 July 2015, Avdijaj started the 2015–16 with an impressive performance against Hartberg in the 2015–16 Austrian Cup first round by scoring one goal, providing one assist and winning a penalty to help his side to take an away 0–6 victory.[10]

Loan at Roda JC

On 15 January 2018. Avdijaj joined Eredivisie side Roda JC, on a 5-month loan.[11][12] On 20 January 2018, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against Twente after being named in the starting line-up.[13]

Willem II

On 16 August 2018. Avdijaj joined Eredivisie side Willem II, on a year-long contract with the option of a second year.[14] On 17 August 2018, he made his debut in a 0–1 away minimal win against Groningen after coming on as a substitute at 64th minute in place of James McGarry.[15] On 18 March 2019, after having failed to get fit and not playing for the club for multiple months along with off the pitch issues, Willem II decided to dissolve Avdijaj's contract with immediate effect.[16]

Trabzonspor

On 8 July 2019, Avdijaj joined Süper Lig side Trabzonspor after agreeing to a one-year deal with the option of continuation for three years.[17] On 8 August 2019, he made his debut with Trabzonspor in the third round of 2019–20 UEFA Europa League against the Czech side Sparta Prague after coming on as a substitute at 76th minute in place of Abdülkadir Ömür.[18] On 17 January 2020, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[19]

Heart of Midlothian

On 20 January 2020, Avdijaj joined Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian, on a six-month contract.[20] After signing for Hearts, Avdijaj said "There is no country, no city in the world where I don't score [a goal]. I score everywhere."[21] Two days later, he made his debut for Hearts in a goalless draw against Ross County.[22]

International career

On 11 October 2014, Avdijaj announced to have refused the Germany U19 as his intention was to represent Albania,[23][24] where he said: "It's better to have behind my own people, rather than foreigners" and he needed just an Albanian citizenship for him to be part of the national team managed by Gianni De Biasi.[25] In November 2014, the coach Gianni De Biasi declared that he spoke with his father and the Schalke 04 coach Roberto Di Matteo for the situation of Avdijaj if he would play for the first team as a professional, a condition of De Biasi to invite him in the national team.[26] In December 2014. Donis' father confirmed the family's desire that the footballer represents Albania in the future.[27] In March 2015. Avdijaj told Albanian media that he has personally met with De Biasi and is looking forward to a call-up.[28]

Kosovo

On 10 November 2016, two days before a match with Turkey, he joined with the Kosovo in Antalya, but in the match with Turkey, could not play because that was not allowed by FIFA.[29] On 20 March 2017, he received the call-up from Kosovo in a match against Iceland.[30] On 24 March 2017, FIFA accepted Avdijaj's request to play for Kosovo[31] and on the same day he made his debut in a match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Iceland.[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 June 2020.[33][34]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe[lower-alpha 1]		Other[lower-alpha 2]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Schalke 04 II	2014–15	Regionalliga	11	4	—		—		—		11	4
Sturm Graz (loan)	2014–15	Austrian Bundesliga	17	6	0	0	—		—		17	6
	2015–16	Austrian Bundesliga	25	3	2	3	1	1	—		28	7
	Total		42	9	2	3	1	1	—		45	13
Schalke 04	2016–17	Bundesliga	9	2	0	0	3	0	—		12	2
	2017–18	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		9	2	0	0	3	0	—		12	2
Roda JC (loan)	2017–18	Eredivisie	11	3	1	1	—		2	0	14	4
Willem II	2018–19	Eredivisie	15	4	3	4	—		—		18	8
Trabzonspor	2019–20	Süper Lig	8	1	2	0	8	0	—		18	1
Heart of Midlothian	2019–20	Scottish Premiership	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
Career total			99	23	8	8	12	1	2	0	121	32

1. Including UEFA Europa League
2. Including Eredivisie relegation playoffs

International

As of 17 November 2018[35]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Kosovo
	2017	2	0
	2018	4	2
Total		6	2

International goals

As of 17 November 2018[36]

Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	17 November 2018 (2018-11-17)	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	3–0	5–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League	[37]
2.				4–0

Honours

Trabzonspor

• Turkish Cup: 2019–20

References

1. "unsere erfolgreichsten Fussballschüler". Gesamtschule Berger Feld. Gesamtschule Berger Feld. Retrieved 27 July 2018. Donisi Avdijai - Schüler an der GEBF bis 2012/13
2. Donis Avdijaj: Why Did Schalke Send €49 Million Talent to Sturm Graz? Bleacher Report
3. Chelsea vs. Schalke 04 - 17 September 2014 - Soccerway
4. Donis Avdijaj huazohet nga Schalke shënon gol në Austri Shqiptarja.com
5. Sturm Graz vs. Wiener Neustadt - 21 February 2015 - Soccerway
6. Rapid Wien vs. Sturm Graz - 28 February 2015 - Soccerway
7. Sturm Graz vs. Austria Wien - 3 March 2015 - Soccerway
8. Sturm Graz vs. Admira - 21 March 2015 - Soccerway
9. Summary - Bundesliga - Austria - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway
10. Hartberg vs. Sturm Graz - 18 July 2015 - Soccerway
11. "Donis Avdijaj bis Saisonende an Roda JC Kerkrade ausgeliehen" (in German). Schalke 04. 15 January 2018.
12. "Roda JC huurt Donis Avdijaj van Schalke'04" (in Dutch). Roda JC Kerkrade. 15 January 2018.
13. "Avdijaj debuton me barazim" (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. 22 January 2018.
14. "Willem II contracteert aanvaller Donis Avdijaj" [Willem II contracts attacker Donis Avdijaj] (in Dutch). Willem II. 16 August 2018.
15. "Donis Avdijaj debuton me fitore te Willem II" [Donis Avdijaj debuts with victory at Willem II]. Lajmi.net (in Albanian). 17 August 2018.
16. "Willem II und Avdijaj lösen Vertrag auf". kicker Online (in German). 18 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
17. "Donis Avdijaj ve Ahmet Baha Bilgin ile sözleşme imzaladık" [We signed a contract with Donis Avdijaj and Ahmet Baha Bilgin] (in Turkish). Trabzonspor. 8 July 2019.
18. "Donis Avdijaj edhe zyrtarisht ka debutuar te skuadra e re" [Donis Avdijaj has officially made his debut in the new squad]. GazetaOlle (in Albanian). 8 August 2019.
19. Barry Anderson [@BarryAnderson_] (17 January 2020). "Hearts signing target Donis Avdijaj had his Trabzonspor contract terminated today.... 👀 @edinburghpaper #HMFC #Kosovo" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
20. "Avdijaj completes Hearts move". Heart of Midlothian. 20 January 2020.
21. McLauchlin, Brian (21 January 2020). "Hearts sign Donis Avdijaj on six-month deal after forward leaves Trabzonspor". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
22. "Ross County–Heart of Midlothian (Match Report)". Heart of Midlothian. 22 January 2020. Hearts: Pereira, Souttar, Bozanic (Walker, 80'), Washington, Naismith, Garuccio, Halkett, Moore, Dikamona (Ikpeazu, 61'), Irving, Avdijaj (Henderson, 61'). Subs: Zlamal, White, MacLean, Damour
23. Bonn, Kyle (2014-10-14). "Germany suffers huge blow as 18-year-old Schalke youth star chooses Albania". NBCSports.com. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
24. Avdijaj zgjedh Shqipërinë? Archived 2014-10-24 at the Wayback Machine Telegrafi
25. Avdijaj: Pres me padurim debutimin kuqezi Albeu.com "Më mirë të kem pas shpinës popullin tim sesa popullin e huaj." "Tanimë 18-vjecarit të lindur në Osnabruck të Gjermanisë, i mbeten vetëm për të plotësuar dokomentacionin dhe të jetë pjesë e përzgjedhjes së Giani De Biasit, që gjithmonë e më shumë po i frikëson kombëtaret e tjera."
26. De Biazi falenderon tifozët, flet për Ajetin, Avdijajn, Karabecin... aSport.al "Të henën bisedova me babain e tij, do të flas gjithashtu dhe me Di Matteon për situatën e futbollistit te Schalke. Nëse Avdiaj do të luajë për ekipin e parë të Schalkes nuk do të ketë asnjë problem për t’u grumbulluar në kombëtare"
27. Familja Avdijaj: Donisi dëshiron të luaj për Shqipërinë, De Biazi nuk na e hapi telefonin! aSport.al
28. Telegrafi 8 March 2015 Eksluzive: Avdijaj rrëfen takimin me De Biasin
29. "Donis Avdijaj i bashkohet Përfaqësueses së Kosovës" (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 10 November 2016.
30. "Bunjaki publikoi listën e futbollistëve për ndeshjen kundër Islandës" (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 20 March 2017.
31. "Ekskluzive: Donis Avdijaj merr leje nga FIFA" (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
32. "Donis Avdijaj futët në lojë, vesh për herë të parë fanellën e Kosovës" (in Albanian). Kosova Press. 24 March 2017.
33. "Donis Avdijaj » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
34. "Donis Avdijaj". Soccerway.
35. "Donis Avdijaj". EU-football.info.
36. "Avdijaj, Donis". National Football Teams. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
37. "Malta (0–5) Kosovo". eu-football.info. 17 November 2018.

External links

• Donis Avdijaj at Soccerway
• Donis Avdijaj at WorldFootball.net