Elvir Maloku

Elvir Mehdi Maloku (born 14 May 1996) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Polish club Olimpia Grudziądz.

Elvir Maloku
Personal information
Full name Elvir Mehdi Maloku
Date of birth (1996-05-14) 14 May 1996
Place of birth Rijeka, Croatia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Olimpia Grudziądz
Number 19
Youth career
2004–2007 Lokomotiva Rijeka
2007–2011 Stari Grad Rijeka
2008–2010 → Mune (loan)
2010–2011 → Klana (loan)
2012–2013 Rijeka
2013–2014 Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Hajduk Split 48 (4)
2016–2019 Gimnàstic 3 (0)
2017–2018 → AEK Larnaca (loan) 19 (1)
2018–2019 → Aluminij (loan) 16 (1)
2019– Olimpia Grudziądz 11 (0)
National team
2013 Croatia U17 3 (0)
2013–2014 Croatia U18 6 (0)
2014–2015 Croatia U19 4 (1)
2017 Albania U21 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:30, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Born in Rijeka into an ethnic Albanian family, Maloku passed through various clubs in his native region where he had started his career with NK Lokomotiva Rijeka in 2004 and moved in 2007 to NK Stari Grad Rijeka, before moving to the youth setup of the local Prva HNL side HNK Rijeka in early 2012. In the 2012–13 season, he was the top scorer of the club's under-17 team, scoring 13 goals in 26 appearances. In February 2013, Maloku had a successful trial at Italian giants Juventus F.C. but talks over potential signing were ultimately called off.[1]

Hajduk Split

In the summer of 2013, Maloku moved to HNK Hajduk Split along with his younger brother Trojan. He made his first team debut on 28 August 2013 in his team's 3-1 away win against NK Lokomotiva Zagreb, coming in the 83rd minute for Anton Maglica.[2]

During his first two seasons under coach Igor Tudor, Maloku was used mostly as a bench player. His pace would sometimes prove good in the last minutes of the game. When Damir Burić took over the club in 2015, Maloku made his way into the first lineup but after some bad performances, he was benched again and used as a substitute. Out of his 69 total caps for Hajduk, he made it only 13 times in the starting lineup and was used 35 times as a substitute. In only 4 matches during his Hajduk career, he managed to play the entire game for 90 minutes. After the end of the season, he was released by Hajduk and given the option to search for his new club.

Gimnàstic

On 18 July 2016, Maloku signed a four-year contract with Spanish Segunda División club Gimnàstic de Tarragona.[3] Then on 7 January, after being rarely used in the league, he was loaned to AEK Larnaca until June 2018.[4]

On 23 August 2018, he was loaned out to NK Aluminij for the rest of the season.[5]

International career

Croatia

Maloku was a Croatian youth international, playing for the under-17 team in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the summer of 2013 and several matches for the under-19 team and the under-21 team.[6]

Albania

He was eligible to play for Albania at international level due to his parents origin.[7] He accepted the invitation from head coach Skënder Gega to play for Albania national under-21 football team in 2015, later stating that he intends to play for Albania at senior level should a chance arise.[8] He was called up for the Friendly matches against Kazakhstan and Sweden on 12 and 16 June 2015 respectively, but his appearance for the team was thwarted by club duties with Hajduk Split.[9]

Following arrival of Alban Bushi as a head coach of Albania U21, Maloku was re-invited to Albania U21. In a press conference later, Bushi stated that Maloku would be given the Albanian citizenship to make him eligible for Albania U21 in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.[10] Maloku was given the Albanian citizenship by president Bujar Nishani.[11]

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Maloku was called up for the friendly match against France U21 on 5 June 2017 and the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification opening match against Estonia U21 on 12 June 2017.[12] On 7 June 2017, FIFA granted Maloku clearance to start for Albania U21 in competitive matches.[13] However, a day before the opening match of the qualifiers against Estonia U21, Maloku suffered a late injury which made him miss the match.[14]

Career statistics

Club
As of 5 November 2017 [5][15]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hajduk Split 2013–14 1. HNL 11021——131
2014–15 1523130—213
2015–16 2225180—353
Total 484103110—697
Gimnàstic de Tarragona2016–17Segunda División 3031——61
AEK Larnaca2016–17Cypriot First Division 14020——160
2017–18 20—20—40
Total 1602020—200
Career total 674154130—958
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

Honours

Club
Hajduk Split
AEK Larnaca
gollark: VS Code, Railscats.
gollark: This is part of Minoteaur.
gollark: No.
gollark: Fear osmarksdependencies™.
gollark: Besides, there *are* timeouts and such.

References
  1. Elvir Maloku është blerja e fundit e Juventusit Archived 16 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
  2. "Video: Hajduk slavio na gostovanju kod Lokomotive i stigao na drugu poziciju na tablici" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  3. "Elvir Maloku, nuevo jugador del Nàstic" [Elvir Maloku, new player of Nàstic] (in Spanish). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  4. "Maloku marxa cedit a l'AEK Larnaca" [Maloku goes out on loan at AEK Larnaca] (in Catalan). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 7 January 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  5. Elvir Maloku at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. "Gudelj objavio sastav U17 reprezentacije za turnir u Japanu" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  7. "Gati 80 futbollistë shqiptarë luajnë për shtetet e huaja" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  8. Elvir Maloku zgjedh Shqipërinë SuperSport Albania
  9. "Skënder Gega zbardh listën e U21" [Skënder Gega bleaches the U21 list] (in Albanian). SportPress.al. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  10. Bushi: Hedhim bazën e të ardhmes kuqezi SuperSport Albania
  11. "Dekret për dhënie të shtetësisë shqiptare nr. 10090" (in Albanian). President.al. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. "Alban Bushi shpall listën e U21 për Francën dhe Estoninë" [Alban Bushi announces the under-21 list for France and Estonia] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 1 June 2017. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  13. FIFA KONFIRMON: FUTBOLLISTI ELVIR MALOKU MUND TË LUAJË PËR SHQIPËRINË FSHF.org
  14. Alban Bushi i mërzitur pas barazimit: Nuk na deshi fati, do të vëzhgoj 80 futbollistë të rinj Newsport.al
  15. Elvir Maloku – UEFA competition record
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