Pajtim Kasami

Pajtim Kasami (born 2 June 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for FC Sion and the Switzerland national team.[3][4]

Pajtim Kasami
Kasami with Nottingham Forest in 2016
Personal information
Full name Pajtim Kasami[1]
Date of birth (1992-06-02) 2 June 1992
Place of birth Andelfingen, Switzerland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2003–2006 Winterthur
2006–2009 Grasshopper
2008–2009 → Liverpool (loan)
2009–2010 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Bellinzona 10 (2)
2010–2011 Palermo 14 (0)
2011–2014 Fulham 38 (3)
2012–2013 → Luzern (loan) 16 (1)
2014–2017 Olympiacos 44 (6)
2016–2017 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 25 (2)
2017–2020 Sion 89 (29)
National team‡
2007–2008 Switzerland U17 9 (3)
2007–2009 Switzerland U18 3 (2)
2010–2014 Switzerland U21 31 (6)
2012 Switzerland U23 4 (0)
2013– Switzerland 12 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:13, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 March 2020

Early career

Born in Zürich, Switzerland[5][6] to an ethnic Albanian family from Struga, Macedonia,[7][8] Kasami started his career in 2003 with Swiss club Winterthur before he joined Grasshoppers in Zürich in 2006. In the same year, he also briefly played for Liverpool on loan.[9] On 2 February 2009, at age 16, he moved to Lazio in the Italian Serie A. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Kasami was reported absent without leave and was due to play for the reserves that season.[10]

Club career

Bellinzona

In December 2009, Kasami returned to Switzerland to play for Bellinzona, signing a contract until 2011.[11] He made his professional debut in March after his free transfer was cleared by Swiss Football Association.[12] Lazio terminated his contract after Kasami failed to appear on several training sessions in the youth teams or first team, and it was due to his indiscipline that Lazio did not want to sell buy his rights from Grasshopper.[13]

Palermo

On 7 June 2010, Palermo announced they had signed the midfielder in a five-year contract from Bellinzona.[14] Despite his young age, he was immediately included in the first team and made his debut with a rosanero jersey as a second-half substitute in the first leg of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League play-off against Maribor. He then made his Serie A debut later on 30 August, playing the entire home league game against Cagliari, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He concluded the season with 24 appearances: 14 in the league, 8 in Europa League and 2 in Coppa Italia.[15] Zamparini hailed Kasami as "the new Pastore".[16]

Fulham

On 25 July 2011, Kasami signed for Fulham on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[17] He made his début for Fulham as a late substitute in the 0–0 draw in their Europa League clash with RNK Split. He was later in the starting line-up versus Dnipro on 18 August 2011, playing for 88 minutes and was greatly involved in the set up of all the 3 goals.[18] Kasami made his Premier League début on 21 August 2011 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium. Fulham lost the match 2–0.[19]

Kasami almost joined Pescara on loan on 1 January 2013, but the move could not be finalised in time due to a bad internet connection.[20] Kasami joined Luzern on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season on 15 February 2013.[21] He made his debut in the 4–0 away defeat to St. Gallen on 24 February 2013. He scored his first goal for Luzern in the 4–3 away victory over Servette FC in the final game of the 2012–13 season on 1 June 2013. Following his loan spell with Luzern came to an end, Manager Martin Jol revealed Kasami took a fifty per cent cut of his wage to stay at the club.[22] He scored Fulham's first goal of the 2013–14 Premier League season in a 1–0 away victory against Sunderland. Kasami then scored his second goal of the season against Crystal Palace on 21 October; a dipping volley from the edge of the area, in a match that eventually ended a 4–1 away win to Fulham.[23][24] This goal was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal of the year, the only one nominated from the Premier League.[25] A third was added with a deflected free kick in a 2–1 win at Norwich on 26 December 2013.[26]

Olympiacos

It was announced on 9 July 2014 that Kasami had signed for Olympiacos for a fee of €5 million.[27] On 23 August 2014, he netted his first goal in his official debut as a player of Olympiacos in a 3–1 home win against Niki Volou.[28] He scored again on 30 August 2014 against Panetolikos in a 1–1 away draw.[29]

On 22 October 2014, Olympiacos pulled off one of the surprises of the Champions League night when they beat Juventus 1–0 in Piraeus with a first-half goal from Kasami.[30][31] On 22 February 2015, Kasami experienced one of the most traumatic shocks in his life after the derby against Panathinaikos.[32][33] On 11 March 2015, Olympiakos's Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira and Kasami were fined for their behavior after the team's Greek Cup quarter-final 1–0 win over AEK Athens. The disciplinary committee of the Greek soccer federation fined Pereira €9,000 and Kasami was ordered to pay €7,000 for making gestures to the crowd which incited trouble.[34]

After a successful 2014–15, which ended with double conquest, several reports in Italy are keep insisting that Kasami was likely to move to a Serie A club and it is believed that Fiorentina or Inter were the most favourable destination.[35][36] Despite serious interest from Fiorentina, Bayer Leverkusen and lately from Roma, Kasami did not complete his transfer on the deadline day.[37] He scored his first goal for the 2015–16 season in a hammering 5–1 win against PAS Giannina.

On 2 October 2015, media source stated that Olympiacos' former manager Vitor Pereira and midfielder Kasami were prosecuted for provoking episodes in the Greek Cup semi final against AEK Athens. The Deputy Prosecutor Giorgos Lainis prosecuted Kasami and Vitor Pereira. Αt the same time, the Football prosecutor former Sports Prosecutor Konstantinos Simitzglou had begun preliminary examination by calling witnesses in order to combine his case with the prosecution. The two men were close to facing criminal responsibilities and even go to trial.[38] On 9 June 2017, Kasami was sentenced to eight months in prison (on parole) for their behavior. The Swiss-Albanian international central midfielder were punished by the Greek Justice for offensively provoking the supporters of AEK after the end of 2014–15 Greek Cup quarter final (0–1) between the two teams in the Olympic Stadium of Athens, after the lawsuit filed by the fan of home side, Christos Garifallou, and supported by their legal department.[39]

Nottingham Forest

On 3 August 2016, Kasami became Nottingham Forest's seventh signing of the summer when he joined the reds on a twelve-month loan deal from Olympiacos.[40] On 27 August 2016, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home win against Leeds United.[41] According to English sources, Kasami had expressed his wish to return to Olympiacos in January transfer window. The former Fulham star failed to hit the heights that were expected of him when brought to Nottingham by French manager Philippe Montanier, who had since been sacked.[42] On 14 February 2017, Kasami's half-volley gave Forest an early lead in a 3–2 away loss against Fulham On 5 May 2017, Nottingham Forest announced that Kasami had returned to Olympiacos.

Sion

On 31 August 2017, Kasami signed a three years contract with Swiss club FC Sion for an undisclosed fee.[43] During the 2018–19 season Kasami scored eight goals and made three assists in 20 appearances for Sion and as a result became the subject of transfer interest from Crystal Palace and Turkish club Fenerbahçe as well as fellow Swiss team Basel FC that are also seriously interested in the versatile midfielder.[44]

On 20 March 2020, FC Sion's president Christian Constantin terminated the contracts of all players without notice after they failed to agree to an 80% salary pay cut during coronavirus pandemic. Players such as Pajtim Kasami, Johan Djourou and Alex Song among others, wished to secure themselves legally with lawyers before agreeing to sign.[45]

International career

Kasami was part of the Swiss under-17 team that won the 2009 World Cup. Whilst at Bellinzona, he earned a call-up to the Switzerland U21 team along with teammates Alessandro Ciarrocchi and Frank Feltscher, making his debut against Georgia U21 on 30 May 2010.[46][47] Kasami was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team. He played over 90 minutes in all three games in the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their Group. He made his debut for the Swiss senior team in a 1–0 win against Slovenia on 15 October 2013 and scored his first goal on 15 November 2013 in a friendly 2–1 defeat against South Korea. He scored his first competitive goal against San Marino to put Switzerland up 5–0 in an eventual 7–0 win.

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 February 2020[48][15]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bellinzona 2009–10 Challenge League 10200——20122
Palermo 2010–11 Serie A 14020—60—220
Fulham 2011–12 Premier League 70101090—180
2012–13 200010——30
2013–14 2934020——353
Total 383504090—563
Luzern (loan) 2012–13 Swiss Super League 16100—60—221
Olympiacos 2014–15 Superleague Greece 24430—81—355
2015–16 20242—70—314
Total 4467200151—669
Nottingham Forest (loan) 2016–17 Championship 2520020——272
FC Sion 2017–18 Swiss Super League 2661000——276
2018–19 3483200——3710
2019–20 2282200——2410
Total 8122650000—8726
Career Total 22836206603612029243

International goals
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first.[49]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 November 2013Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea South Korea1–01–2Friendly
2.9 October 2015AFG Arena, St. Gallen, Switzerland San Marino5–07–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Honours

Club

Olympiacos

International

Switzerland

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References
  1. "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. Pajtim Kasami | Fulham Football Club Archived 27 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Le FC Sion s'attache les services de l'international suisse Pajtim Kasami" (in French). www.fcsion.ch. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  4. "FC Sion released Alex Song and eight other players for refusing to take pay cuts". www.marca.com. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "Κασάμι: "Να γιατί βοήθησα τον Μήτρογλου"" (in Greek). www.sport24.gr.
  6. "Κασάμι: Γι' αυτό πανηγύρισα με αυτόν τον τρόπο" (in Greek). www.enikos.gr.
  7. "Kasami: Jam shqiptar, festova me shqiponjë (Video)" (in Albanian). www.zeri.info.
  8. "Kasami: Ja pse festova me shqiponjë" (in Albanian). gazetadita.al.
  9. "Youngsters preparing for new season". Liverpool FC. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  10. "Ex-Liverpool youngster Kasami AWOL from Lazio". tribalfootball. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. "Pajtim Kasami è granata !" (in Italian). AC Bellinzona. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  12. "Weltmeister Pajtim Kasami wechselt zur AC Bellinzona". Sport SF (in German). 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  13. "Bellinzona, ag. Kasami "Contratto con la Lazio rescisso correttamente"". Tutto Mercato Web (in Italian). 30 December 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  14. "PRESO PAJTIM KASAMI" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  15. "Switzerland – P. Kasami – Soccerway". Global Sports Media. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  16. "Zamparini: Pajtim Kasami? Ai është Pastore i ri" (in Albanian). Telegrafi.
  17. "Pajtim Kasami Joins Fulham". Fulham FC. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  18. "UEFA Europa League 2012 – Fulham v Dnipro". UEFA. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  19. "Wolves 2 – 0 Fulham". Fulham FC. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  20. "Kasami's Pescara Loan". Metro UK. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  21. "Kasami's Luzern Loan". Fulham FC. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  22. "Fulham's man of moment Kasami took wage cut to play for Cottagers, says boss Jol". London: Daily Mail. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  23. "Crystal Palace 1 Fulham 4: Kasami and Sidwell bag a stunner apiece in rout". Daily Mail. London. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  24. "Crystal Palace 1 – 4 Fulham". BBC Sport. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  25. "Pajtim Kasami". FIFA. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  26. Davis, Derek (26 December 2013). "Norwich City 1 Fulham 2: match report". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  27. "Pajtim Kasami: Fulham midfielder leaves for Olympiakos". BBC Sport. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  28. "The Legend kicks off the championship with a win!". Olympiacos.org. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  29. "Panaitolikos – Olympiacos 1–1". Olympiacos.org. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  30. "Olympiakos shock Juventus with Pajtim Kasami's winner". www.theguardian.com. 22 October 2014.
  31. "Champions League: Olympiakos' midfielder Kasami stun Juventus in 1–0 win". www.themalaymailonline.com. 22 October 2014.
  32. "Kasami: "A traumatic experience"". SDNA. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  33. "Κασάμι: "Κανένας να μην το ζήσει"" (in Greek). www.sport24.gr. 25 March 2015.
  34. "Olympiakos's Pereira, Kasami fined for stormy Greek Cup tie". www.ekathimerini.com. 11 March 2015.
  35. "Fiorentina set to table Kasami offer". sdna.gr. 26 May 2015.
  36. "Inter, Raiola propone Kasami". www.calciomercato.com. 7 June 2015.
  37. "Kasami likely to stay at Olympiakos". www.sdna.gr. 1 September 2015.
  38. "Pereira- Kasami prosecuted". www.sdna.gr. 2 October 2015.
  39. "Απόφαση-κόλαφος: 8 μήνες φυλάκιση σε Περέιρα, Κασάμι!". www.sdna.gr. 9 June 2017.
  40. "Pajtim Kasami: Nottingham Forest sign Olympiacos midfielder on season-long loan". www.bbc.com. 3 August 2016.
  41. "Forest 3–1 Leeds". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk. 27 August 2016.
  42. "Θέλει να γυρίσει στον Ολυμπιακό ο Κασάμι". www.sdna.gr. 19 January 2017.
  43. "Επίσημο: Στην Σιόν έως το 2020 ο Κασάμι". www.sdna.gr. 31 August 2017.
  44. "Crystal Palace and Fenerbahce tracking ex-Fulham star Kasami". www.goal.com. 6 January 2019.
  45. "Former Arsenal players Alex Song and Johan Djourou leave Swiss club FC Sion after refusing to take pay cut during coronavirus pandemic". talksport.com. 20 March 2020.
  46. "Georgia draw keeps Switzerland waiting". UEFA. 30 May 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  47. "Granata rossocrociato, u21". AC Bellinzona (in Italian). 30 May 2010. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  48. "Pajtim Kasami". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  49. "Kasami, Pajtim". National Football Teams. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
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