Armando Sadiku

Early career & Turbina Cërrik

Born in Cërrik, Elbasan, Sadiku started his career with a local club Fushë Mbreti from where he moved later at the youth ranks of his boyhood club Turbina Cërrik, and later made his professional debut in the Albanian First Division whereas he played during the two seasons 2007–08 and 2008–09.

Gramozi Ersekë

In 2009, he moved to newly promoted Albanian Superliga side Gramozi Ersekë, owned by the brother of Albanian oil tycoon Rezart Taci. He made it his first debut for the club and in the Albanian Superliga in the opening day of the 2009–10 season in a goalless draw at home against Shkumbini Peqin, where Sadiku came in as a substitute for Brazilian forward Marko dos Santos in the 66th minute. His first goal in the Albanian Superliga came on the fourth match of the season in a 4–1 away loss to fellow newly promoted side Skënderbeu Korçë. Sadiku started the game and played the full 90 minutes with his goal coming on 18th minute of the game to make the scores 1–1 at the time, he netted from close range with his right foot after an assist from Marko Dos Santos.

In total Sadiku played in 28 games and scored 8 goals during the 2009–10 season. Gramozi was ranked in the last place of the table and were relegated to Albanian First Division.

Elbasani

During the summer transfer window, Sadiku signed for his hometown club Elbasani. During the 2010–11 season first-half he played 14 matches and scored 5 goals. He made his debut with the club on 22 August 2010 during the opening league match against Tirana at home, playing 75 minutes in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal of the season in his second appearance six days later, netting a last-minute winner in a 2–1 away win over Bylis Ballsh.

On 19 December 2010, during the league match against Laçi, Sadiku, who had scored earlier in the match, was sent-off in the 82nd minute. A minute before his dismissal, he scored but was caught offside by the assistant refeere Eduard Miho, which enraged Sadiku, who run towards him and pushed away by throat, spitting and also insulted him the process. Disciplinary Committee suspended Sadiku from Albanian football for two years, also fining him. That was his last match in Albanian football, as Sadiku left the club to purchase a career in Switzerland. As it happened with Gramozi Ersekë in previous season, Elbasani also ranked in the last place and were relegated to Albanian First Division.

Locarno

Sadiku played only a half season with Elbasani, as he was banned from Albanian football due to non-sporting behavior, which led him to flee in Switzerland to play for Locarno. Sadiku signed for Swiss Challenge League side on 13 March 2011. He arrived in the morning and even travelled with the side to the away fixture with FC Schaffhausen. He made his debut for the club on the very day he signed, starting the game before being substituted in the 82nd minute in the 2–1 loss. His first goal came in his third appearance of the season, against Chiasso on 1 April; he scored the winning goal in the 64th minute of 2–1 away win, before being substituted in the 75th minute. His goal against Chiasso was then followed up by a brace against Kriens, scoring during the first half and then again in injury time in a game which ended 3–0 for Sadiku's side. He then scored again in the next game against Aarau which took his tally to 4 goals in 3 games. Sadiku scored against Winterthur on 7 May, opening the score in the 4–1 win. This goal was followed up by another 4 goals in his next 3 appearances. During the second half of the 2010–11 season he scored 9 goals in 12 games, which helped his side avoid relegation.

Sadiku began the 2011–12 season in the same form as he ended the last, netting twice on the opening day of the new season against Wohlen in a match his side lost 5–2. Sadiku's next goals came four games later against Étoile Carouge on 20 August, scoring twice in the first half of the 3–0 win. He scored a late equaliser at home against Stade Nyonnais on 10 September to earn his side a draw. In the next game he scored again, this time the opening goal in a 2–1 win against Vaduz. Sadiku then scored in the Swiss Cup against Wil on 16 October, but Locarno were knocked out on penalties after a 1–1 draw. His goal in the Swiss Cup was then followed by three goals in his next three league games, including the winner away at Chiasso. Sadiku then ended 2011 in Switzerland with a goal in the 82nd minute against Aarau, to give his side a point that left them in 8th place at the end of the year. He finished season 2012–13 of Swiss Challenge League as Top scorer with 19 goals.

Lugano

After much speculation about his future, on 23 July 2012 Locarno released a statement revealing that Sadiku had left the club and signed a three-year contract with Lugano, also in the Swiss Challenge League.

2012–13 season

On 13 February 2013, Sadiku scored twice against his previous former team Locarno in the opening match for second phase of the 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League, where the match finished in the 3–0 victory with Sadiku scoring the second and the last goal in the 42nd and 87th minutes. Sadiku scored his 15th goal on 27 April 2013 against Wil in a 3–2 loss. On 2 June 2013, Sadiku scored twice against Bellinzona in a 3–4 victory where Sadiku scored the first and the third goal in the 7th and 79th minutes.

For the second consecutive season and also with two different teams, Sadiku finished the complete season as Top goalscorer. In the end of 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League he registered a total of 18 goals in 32 appearances and Lugano finished in the 7th place.

2013–14 season

Sadiku scored against St. Gallen on 15 September 2013 in the Swiss Cup but Lugano was defeated 3–1 and was eliminated from the competition. On 26 September 2013 Sadiku scored the only goal against Vaduz in a 2–1 loss. On 19 October 2013 Sadiku scored against Winterthur in the 65th minute for the 2–2 equaliser but 1 minute later opponent managed to score again to take a 3–2 win. On 27 October 2013 Sadiku scored a brace against Schaffhausen to help his side to win 3–1.

Zürich

After speculations of last days about his transfer to Zürich, on 13 November 2013 he officially signed with the Zürich in the Swiss Super League and in this way in December 2013 he finished his adventure with Lugano and after window of transfers opens, he joined his new club Zürich, exactly on 1 January 2014. He made it his presentation with the new club Zürich days later on 18 November 2013, where he was given the shirt with the number 11 and he signed the new contract until June 2018. Coming in Zürich, Sadiku joined there another fellow Albanian player Burim Kukeli. His first match with Zürich came on 14 January 2014 and was a friendly against MSV Duisburg, where Sadiku also scored a goal.

2013–14 season

Sadiku made it his first debut in the Swiss Super League with Zürich, on 1 February 2014 against Sion coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute in place of Franck Etoundi. On 26 March 2014, Sadiku played in the semi-final match of Swiss Cup against Thun as he came in as a substitute in the 19th minute of the extra-time, after the full 90-minutes and also 30-minutes of the extra-time had finished in the goalless draw, match decided by penalties were Zürich won 5–4 with Sadiku scoring the 3rd penalty take. He played first match as a starter for Zürich on 16 April 2014 in the 4–2 loss against Basel, where he got substituted off in the 80th minute. Sadiku played five days later, on 21 April 2014 even against Basel in the Swiss Cup final match, as he came in as a substitute in the 91st minute (1st minute of stoppage time) in place of Franck Etoundi, were the full 90-minutes finished in the goalless draw and the match passed in to the 30 minute extra-time, were the Zürich striker Mario Gavranović scored twice on the 10th & 24th minutes to give it the final match result 2–0, with Zürich declaring the champions of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup. Sadiku scored on 26 April 2014 against Luzern but his goal wasn't enough as Zürich lost with 1–2 result. During the match between Zürich and St. Gallen on 10 May 2014, Sadiku came in as a substitute in the 70th minute in place of Franck Etoundi and after just nine minutes he suffered a hard injury as he broken knee ligament, then substituted off for Amine Chermiti in the 79th minute. He ended the season two weeks before the end as he remained six months out of play due to his injury.

2014–15 season

Sadiku got returned from the long-injury on 22 November 2014 as he participated in to the 16th week match of the 2014–15 Swiss Super League against FC Sion. He was an unused substitute during the entire match. Five days later he was on the bench again for the entire match of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage against Apollon Limassol. Another three days after he made it his new season debut by coming on as a substitute in the 71st minute in place of Davide Chiumiento in a 1–2 loss in extreme against Basel. For Basel scored twice the fellow Albanian international striker Shkëlzen Gashi in the 41st minute an goal which equaled by the Zürich midfielder Yassine Chikhaoui in the 88th minute and where then Gashi scored in the 94th to sign the victory for opponents of Basel. Being returned before just a week, on 3 December 2014 Sadiku played as a starter and scored the first season goal in a 5–0 victory over Cham valid for the third round of Swiss Cup, in where Sadiku scored the 3rd goal in the 73rd minute.

Loan to Vaduz

During the first part of 2015–16 season, Sadiku was used scarcely, and often as a substitute by coach Sami Hyypiä despite being the team's top goalscorer in the league. That lead him to request a loan to an other Swiss Super League side in order to play more to be ready to represent Albania in the UEFA Euro 2016 in France. His wish was fulfilled and on 12 January 2016 Sadiku was loaned out to the bottom-side Vaduz until the end of season. During his presentation one day later, Sadiku was allocated squad number 32 and dubbed his Vaduz move as the "right decision". His parent club Zürich was criticized by the Swiss media, which dubbed the loan an "own goal" and an "arrogant" decision.

Sadiku made his debut for the club on 6 February scoring a brace and providing two assists in a 5–2 away win against fellow relegation strugglers Lugano, one of his former sides. On 28 February, he was again on the scoresheet scoring his team's only goal in a 1–1 draw against Grasshopper, giving Vaduz one point.

On 6 April, he scored a brace in the 2015–16 Liechtenstein Cup semi-final match against Eschen/Mauren, helping the team to win the 2–1 and progress to the final. Four days later, Sadiku scored his fourth league goal for Vaduz and also provided an assist during the 3–0 home win against St. Gallen, helping Vaduz to a first success after six consecutive winless league matches. He scored his tenth league goal of the season during the 5–4 away defeat to Young Boys.

Loan to Lugano

Following arrival of Paolo Tramezzani from Sadiku's national team Albania at FC Lugano made Sadiku himself to move on loan at FC Lugano making also a return. He made his return debut on 4 February in team's 4–0 away defeat at Basel. Following that, he went on to score in five consecutive league matches, including the winner against St. Gallen, as Lugano become a contenter for a European spot next season. During his time at Lugano, Sadiku formed a fierce partnership with Ezgjan Alioski, as the duo scored 25 goals together. Sadiku took his first win with Lugano on 11 February 2017 against Grasshopper scoring also a goal in the 71st minute to end the score 3–0. Sadiku scored against his former Vaduz on 19 February 2017 to give Lugano a 1–1 draw and including a impressive performance in the game he was selected in the team of the week. Sadiku scored the opening goal on 4 March 2017 against Lausanne-Sport in the 6th minute of the match which eventually finished in the 2–1 victory. It was his 4th goal in 4 last matches and he was selected for the third time in a row in the team of the week. Sadiku scored 1 goal on 12 March 2017 against Thun but with no value as Thun won 5–2 and Sadiku scored the last goal. Sadiku scored 1 goal and provided 1 assist on 9 April 2017 against Sion where Lugano won 4–2. Following his performance in this game, Sadiku was selected in the team of the week. On 7 May, Sadiku scored against Basel and celebrated by taking off his shirt receiving his second yellow card as the match finished in a 2–2 draw. On 21 May, Sadiku scored against Vaduz to open Lugano's way for a 3–0 victory which secured them participation in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League next season. He finished the second part of the 2016–17 season by scoring 9 times in 16 appearances.

Legia Warsaw

On 12 July 2017, Sadiku joined Polish Ekstraklasa side Legia Warsaw by penning a three-year contract. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but it was reported that Legia paid €1.5 million for his services, making Sadiku the most expensive purchase of Polish football. He was presented two days later, where he was given squad number 99, stating: "I am happy I have signed with such a great club. This is a good step in my career. I hope we will qualify for the Champions League group stage."

Sadiku made his first appearance for Legia on 15 July in the opening Ekstraklasa matchday against Gornik Zabrze, playing in the second half and scoring his team's only goal in an 3–1 away defeat. Eleven days later, Sadiku made his UEFA Champions League debut by scoring a tap-in in a 3–1 away defeat to Astana in the first leg of third qualifying round. He debutted with goal also in the Polish Cup on 8 August 2017 against Wisła Puławy valid for the 2017–18 Polish Cup - Round of 32, where Sadiku came in as a substitute in the 64th minute for Guilherme Costa Marques and scored in the 90'+1 minute the last goal of the match which ended in the 1–4 victory. He scored his second league goal on 27 August 2017 against current top of the table side Zagłębie Lubin in the 57th minute following an assist from right side to open the score toward a 2–1 victory for Legia.

Youth teams

Sadiku was called up at the Albania national under-19 football team by coach Ramadan Shehu for a double friendly match against Cyprus U19 on 20 & 21 October 2009. In both games he played as a starter and was substituted off in the second half. He was included in Ramadan Shehu's Albania U19 squad for their 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification

In the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Sadiku scored two goals as a second-half substitute against Moldova U21 on 7 September 2011 to earn Albania their first points of the campaign. He then scored twice against Poland in a 3–4 loss for Albania. He followed this up with another two goals in a 2–2 draw with Portugal, taking his tally to 6 goals in his first 7 games for Albania U21.

Senior team

New Albania senior team coach Gianni De Biasi, called up Sadiku for his first match as a head coach, a friendly against Georgia on 29 February 2012 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. He made his senior international debut in the game, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for goalscorer and fellow debutant Edgar Çani in the 2–1 loss for Albania. He was called up then to Albania's next two friendliest against Qatar and Iran in May 2012, where he played as a second-half substitute in both games, which Albania won them both.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

For the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, new coach Gianni De Biasi had introduced young forwards into the senior national team to create more competition for places in the team. Young forwards such as Sadiku was among Edgar Çani and Bekim Balaj provided competition for the established and mature internationals which were Erjon Bogdani and Hamdi Salihi. In the opening match against Cyprus for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 7 September 2012, Sadiku managed to play as a starter among Salihi forming the duo strikers partnership and Sadiku himself managed to score his first international goal. His goal came in the 36th minute after an cross from free-kick in the right side by Alban Meha and it was the opening goal of the game to open Albania's way towards a 3–1 win.

UEFA Euro 2016 campaign

On 11 October 2015, in the last qualifying match against Armenia at Yerevan, Sadiku came on the field as a substitute in the 59th minute and scored in the 76th minute after a cross by Odise Roshi and with a weak shoot inside the box, helping Albania qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 in its first ever appearance at major football tournament.

On 29 March 2016 Sadiku scored his 3rd goal for Albania in a friendly match against Luxembourg won 2–0 by Albania.

On 21 May 2016, Sadiku was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May. Sadiku scored in both Euro 2016 warm-up friendly games played by Albania against Qatar on 29 May (3–1 win) and Ukraine on 3 June (3–1 loss).

Sadiku played all Group A matches as a starter completing 1 full 90-minutes match against hosts of France where they lost 2–0. Then in the UEFA Euro 2016 - Group A last game at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, against Romania on 19 June 2016, Sadiku scored a header becoming the first Albanian player to score a goal in the UEFA European Championship giving Albania the 1–0 victory, which was also their first victory in a major football tournament. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference –2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

For the qualifiers of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Sadiku's Albania was placed in Group G along with Spain, Italy, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. On 29 August 2016, he was in the team's for the friendly against Morocco and the opening qualifying match against Macedonia. He played as a second half substitute in team's goalless draw against Morocco at the newly renovated Loro Boriçi Stadium. On 5 September in the match against Macedonia, Sadiku opened the score with right-footed shoot just outside the box as Albania won 2–1 thanks to a goal in the last minutes. Later that month, Sadiku suffered an injury while playing for Zürich which kept him sidelined for the next two qualifying match against Liechtenstein and Spain in October, which ended respectively with a 2–0 win and 0–2 defeat. He also missed the match at Elbasan Arena against Israel which ended in a 0–3 defeat as Albania was dropped to fourth place.

Sadiku returned to the national team in March for the match against Italy and the friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He returned to the field for the match against Italy, entering in the final 23 minutes as Albania suffered another defeat. On 12 June 2017, in the match against Israel at Sammy Ofer Stadium, Sadiku returned to the starting lineup after nine months to score twice in the first half, both long-range strikes, as Albania got their revenge on Israel with a 3–0 away victory.

Sponsorship

In April 2016, Sadiku signed a sponsorship deal with American sportswear and equipment supplier, Nike.

Personal life

Sadiku was born on 27 May 1991 in the municipality of Elbasan Country, Cërrik. His father, Durim, is from Trebisht, Albania and his mother from Podujevo, Kosovo. Sadiku is related to Taulant and Granit Xhaka through his mother. He also holds Bulgarian passport. Sadiku has cited his role model and favourite footballer the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, and is also fan of Italian club Internazionale.

He is also known to be a supporter of Socialist Party of Albania, having taken part in 2013 and 2017 electoral campaign. On 30 December 2016, Sadiku was named "Honorary Citizen" of Elbasan for his contribution in sport.

Club

International

International goals

Club