Valon Ethemi

Valon Ethemi (Macedonian: Валон Етеми; born 3 October 1997) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club İstanbulspor.[1] A former youth international for Albania, he plays for the North Macedonia national team.

Valon Ethemi
Personal information
Full name Valon Ethemi
Date of birth (1997-10-03) 3 October 1997
Place of birth Palatica, Macedonia
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 İstanbulspor
Number 27
Youth career
2010–2015 Renova
2015–2016 Dinamo Tirana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Adriatiku Mamurras 22 (4)
2017–2021 Kukësi 96 (10)
2021– İstanbulspor 60 (17)
International career‡
2018 Albania U21 1 (0)
2022– North Macedonia 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:31, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 November 2022

Club career

Early career

Ethemi was born in Palatica, Želino Municipality to ethnic Albanian parents but later moved to Albania where he joined the Dinamo Tirana academy as a 17-year-old, where he remained for one year before joining professional side Adriatiku Mamurras in the Albanian First Division, the second tier of football in Albania. He featured in 22 league games for the club during the 2016–17 campaign, scoring 4 goals in the process which landed him a move to Albanian Superliga champions Kukësi.

Kukësi

He officially joined Kukësi on 28 August 2017, penning a three-year contract and receiving squad number 27.[2] Later on 6 September, he was on the bench for his side's 2017 Albanian Supercup loss to Tirana.[3] He played his first Albanian Superliga match three days later on the opening league game of the season, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Ndriçim Shtubina in the 1–0 home win over newly promoted Kamza.[4] He scored his first league goal for the club on 16 October 2017 in a 4–2 home victory over KF Teuta Durrës. His goal, scored in the 31st minute, made the score 2–0 in favor of Kukësi. He was later subbed out, being replaced by Rauf Aliyev in the 78th minute.[5]

İstanbulspor

Ethemi helped İstanbulspor achieve promotion in the 2021-22 season for the first time in 17 years.[6] He started in İstanbulspor return to the Süper Lig in a 2–0 season opening loss to Trabzonspor on 5 August 2022.[7]

International career

On 28 May 2018 Ethemi made his debut with Albania U21 in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 after being named in the starting line-up.[8]

On 12 June 2022 Ethemi made his debut with North Macedonia in a match of UEFA Nations League against Gibraltar.

Career statistics
As of 28 September 2017[1]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Adriatiku Mamurras 2016–17 Albanian First Division 22400——224
Kukësi 2017–18 Albanian Superliga 33271—00403
Career total 556710000627

    References
    1. Valon Ethemi at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
    2. "Kukësi "peshkon" një talent, firmos mesfushori Valon Etemi" [Kukësi “fishes” a talent midfielder Valon Ethemi signs] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
    3. "Finalja e Superkupës, Tirana godet në fund" [Supercup final, Tirana strikes at the end] (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
    4. "Kukësi mposht Kamzën falë një penalltie, Bakaj debuton me gol (VIDEO)" [Kukësi defeats Kamza thanks to a penalty, Bakaj debuts with goal (VIDEO)] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
    5. "Kukesi vs. Teuta Durres – 16 October 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
    6. "İstanbulspor, 17 yıl sonra Spor Toto Süper Lig'de". Pusula Haber.
    7. "Trabzonspor lige galibiyetle başladı!". Haber7.
    8. "Shqipëria U-21 humbet miqësoren me Bosnje-Hercegovinën" (in Albanian). Albanian Football Association. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
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