Agonit Sallaj

Agonit Sallaj (born 14 February 1992) is an Albanian retired professional footballer who played mainly as a defender.

Agonit Sallaj
Personal information
Full name Agonit Sallaj
Date of birth (1992-02-14) 14 February 1992
Place of birth Gjakova, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Neuchâtel Xamax 0 (0)
2011–2012 → Biel-Bienne (loan) 24 (2)
2012–2013 Biel-Bienne 3 (0)
2013 → Fribourg (loan) 1 (0)
2014 Bulle 10 (1)
2014–2015 Le Mont 5 (0)
2015–2017 Neuchâtel Xamax 3 (0)
National team
2011−2013 Albania U-21 10 (0)
2012−2013 Albania 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 July 2017

Club career

Sallaj began his career at Neuchâtel Xamax in Switzerland, he spent two years at the club without making an appearance. For the 2011–12 season Sallaj joined Biel-Bienne on a seasons loan where he made twenty-four league appearances whilst scoring two goals, he also played in three Swiss Cup matches, scoring in one of them, during the loan spell. Once Sallaj's loan ended he was released by parent club Neuchâtel Xamax.

In the summer of 2012, Sallaj had a trial at English club Portsmouth, after featuring in two games against Aldershot Town and Bolton Wanderers in friendly matches, manager Michael Appleton ended his interest in signing Sallaj.[1]

Biel-Bienne resigned Sallaj permanently in September 2012. His permanent spell at Biel-Bienne was less successful after he made just three appearances, due to his lack of game time he joined Fribourg on loan in January 2013 for the remainder of the season.

Sallaj made one appearance while at Fribourg, he returned to Biel-Bienne where he was subsequently released in July 2013. It took Sallaj seven months to find a new club until he joined Bulle in January 2014, he remained at the Swiss club before leaving in July of that year to join Le Mont. Salaj stayed with Le Mont until February 2015 when he rejoined former club Neuchâtel Xamax on a contract lasting until the summer of 2016.[2]

In summer 2017 he quit football due to a persistent knee injury sustained in an August 2015 match against former club Biel-Bienne.[3]

International career

Being born in Kosovo, then Serbia, FR Yugoslavia, to ethnic Albanian parents and raised in Switzerland, Sallaj was eligible to play for Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo if a national team should be formed, but in March 2011 he answered the call by Albania's U-21 coach Artan Bushati for a friendly tournament in Slovenia. He was then given Albanian citizenship in order to represent the country.[4]

Sallaj was selected by Josip Kuže for a friendly against Argentina on 20 June 2011.[5] He made his debut in the 67th minute as a substitute in a game which ended in a 4–0 loss.[6][7]

References
  1. "Appleton rejects Sallaj". Sky Sports. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. "A Second Reinforcing for Red and Black". xamax.ch/. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  3. Agonit Sallaj quitte Xamax sur blessure... - Xamax (in French)
  4. "Bushati merr 10 talentë në Slloveni" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  5. Roger Gonzalez (19 June 2011). "Argentina vs Albania Preview". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  6. "l'Argentina travolge l'Albania in un'amichevole di preparazione" (in Italian). Sport Live. 21 June 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  7. "Draugiškose rungtynėse Argentina sutriuškino Albaniją" (in Lithuanian). Sportas Delfi. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
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