Flamur Kastrati

Kastrati, who is of Kosovo-Albanian descent,[2] was born in Oslo where he grew up in Groruddalen and played for Grei during his youth.[3] He transferred to Skeid in 2006, and was at the age of 15 invited on a trial with English club Chelsea together with fellow Albanian-Norwegian youngsters Valon Berisha and Mërgim Hereqi.[4] Kastrati made his debut for Skeid's first-team in the 2. Divisjon at the age of 16, and scored six goals in the 2008 season[5] when the team won promotion to Adeccoligaen.

Kastrati after winning the 2008 2. Divisjon with Skeid.

The former FC Twente and Norway international player Hallvar Thoresen, Twente's head-scout in Scandinavia was impressed by Kastrati's talent in 2008, and invited the player for a trial with Twente in November 2008.[6] Kastrati was sold to Twente in January 2009, and signed a two-year contract with the club.[7] He was playing for the reserves team, but was one of four players that were training regularly with the first team.[6] After Twente won the 2009–10 Eredivisie, Kastrati was played several matches with the first team in the pre-season,[8] and was included in the squad for the Champions League match against Werder Bremen in November 2011[9]

Kastrati was loaned out to German 2. Bundesliga side VfL Osnabrück on loan for the second half of the 2011–12 season. He scored in his debut in the 1–4 loss against MSV Duisburg on 16 January 2011.[10] In a match against Energie Cottbus on 13 March 2011, Kastrati fell to the ground unconscious after an apparently harmless clash with Markus Brzenska. The match was stopped while Kastrati received treatment on the pitch, before he was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. After the match was restarted, both teams stopped playing, simply passing the ball from side to side during the 12 minutes of stoppage time.[11][12][13] The doctors feared that Kastrati's neck was broken, and that his footballing career was over. He did however only injure a nerve, and was expected to return to the pitch within two weeks.[14] He scored a goal in his first match after the injury, against Karlsruher SC on 1 April 2011.

VfL Osnabrück was relegated from the 2011–12 2. Bundesliga and Kastrati joined MSV Duisburg in June 2011 on a free transfer, where he signed a three-year contract.[10][15] Kastrati joined Erzgebirge Aue on a free transfer in January 2013 and signed a contract lasting till June 2015 and was given shirt number 9.[16] Kastrati struggled to become a regular in Erzgebirge Aue's first team,[17] and in August 2013 he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with the Tippeligaen side Strømsgodset.[18] Kastrati stated that he was wanted by other Norwegian clubs, but that he wanted to join Godset because he considered Ronny Deila the best head coach in Norway.[17] Kastrati made his debut for Strømsgodset in the Tippeligaen match against title contenders Rosenborg on 11 August 2013. He played 11 minutes in the 2–2 draw, and could have become match-winner two minutes into stoppage time, but his goal was disallowed for offside.[19]

In August 2016 Kastrati joined Aalesunds FK, a few months before his contract with Strømsgodset would have expired.[20]

In August 2018 Kastrati joined Kristiansund.[21]

Kastrati first represented Norway in 2007 when he played three matches for the under-16 team. He played five matches and scored for the under-17 team in 2008, before he the next year scored one goal in five matches for the under-18.[22] He became a regular for the under-19 team in 2010[23] and scored three goals in five matches for the team.[22]

Kastrati made his debut for Norwegian under-21 team in the match against Greece U-21 on 17 November 2010[22] In the first match of the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification, Kastrati assisted Joshua King's goal when Norway U-21 won 2–0 against Iceland U-21.[24] He made a total of three appearances for the under-21 team in the qualification campaign, when they qualified for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[25] Kastrati scored his first goal for the under-21 in a friendly match against Spain U-21 on 21 March 2013,[2] and scored another goal against Netherlands U-21 four days later.[26] Kastrati was a part of the Norwegian squad that won bronze at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he made one appearance as a substitute.[27]

In April 2013, Kastrati told the Albanian media that he would welcome a call from Albania to play for them.[28][29] In February 2014, Kastrati announced that he would play for Kosovo.[30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flamur Kastrati.

• Flamur Kastrati at WorldFootball.net