Arton Zekaj

Arton Zekaj
Personal information
Full name Arton Zekaj
Date of birth (2000-04-16) 16 April 2000
Place of birth Subotica, FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Lille
Number 21
Youth career
2015–2018 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 Partizan 0 (0)
2016 → OFK Bačka (loan) 0 (0)
2018 Sopot 0 (0)
2018– Lille 1 (0)
National team
2014–2016 Serbia U15
2016– Serbia U16
2017– Serbia U17
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 August 2018

Arton Zekaj (Serbian Cyrillic: Артон Зекај; born 16 April 2000) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for French club Lille.

Early life

Zekaj was born in Subotica, FR Yugoslavia from Kosovo Albanian parents from Prizren.

Club career

Partizan and OFK Bačka

Zekaj has played with the youth teams of Partizan.[1] During the 2016–17 season he was on loan to OFK Bačka and licensed for the senior team, but failed to make a debut in the Serbian SuperLiga.

Sopot

On 14 February 2018. Zekaj joined Serbian League Belgrade side Sopot.[2]

Lille OSC

On 4 July 2018. Zekaj joined Ligue 1 side Lille, on a three-year contract.[3][4] On 11 August 2018, he made his debut as professional footballer in a 3–1 home win against Stade Rennais after coming on as a substitute at last minutes in place of Lebo Mothiba.

International career

Serbia

"Zeka expected be invited to one of the upcoming clusters of Kosovo U21 and guessed this is very big talent, because an Albanian would had it impossible to play for Partizan or Serbia national teams."

—Kosovo U15 coach Isa Sadriu shares his first impression for Zekaj.

Youth

Zekaj was a member of Serbia U15 from 2014 until 2016, when he was promoted to Serbia U16. In 2017, he became part of Serbia U17 and in some matches played with the Serbia national youth teams was squad captain.

Kosovo

On 3 April 2017, Zekaj visited Pristina together with his father, a consultant and a representative of Partizan and met with the leaders of the Football Federation of Kosovo. The meeting was held to clarify procedures to enable him to play for Kosovo national team.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ ""Đavolčići" ponovo poklekli u finišu: Partizan nosi tri boda iz Kragujevca" ["Devils" clapped again in the final: Partizan wears three points from Kragujevac]. SrbijaSport (in Serbian). 24 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Регистрације" [Registrations] (PDF) (in Serbian). Football Association of Serbia. 14 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "Arton Zekaj rejoint le LOSC" [Arton Zekaj joins the LOSC] (in French). Lille OSC. 4 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Kapiten Orlića Arton Zekaj iz Sopota u Lil!" [Eagle's captain Arton Zekaj from Sopot to Lille!]. MozzartSport (in Serbian). 4 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Reprezentuesi i Serbisë shpreh dëshirën të luajë për Kosovën" [Representative of Serbia expresses the desire to play for Kosovo] (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. 13 April 2017.
  6. ↑ @kosovanfooty (14 April 2017). "Arton Zekaj (16) part of..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.