Emir Bajrami

Early Career/IF Elfsborg

Growing up in Sweden, Bajrami began his career at Köping FF and made twelve appearance and scoring five times before moving to Elfsborg at the end of the 2005 season.

After making his debut and his only appearance against GAIS on 30 July 2006, where he came on as a late substitute, Bajrami was given a first team breakthrough for the new season and scored his first Allsvenskan goal against Örebro SK on 17 April 2007. Bajrami would finish the 2007 season, making fifteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

In the 2008 season, Bajrami started the season well when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Malmö on 10 April 2008 and from that moment on, he established himself in the first team for the rest of the season. Bajrami scored in both legs in a 4–0 win over Hibernian and then scored two goals in two matches between 16 July 2008 and 23 July 2008 against Halmstads and Norrköping. In a match against Ljungskile on 1 September 2008, he then set up two goals, in a 4–0 win. As the 2008 season progressed, he scored two more goals later in the season against Malmö and Halmstads, as he went on to score seven goals in thirty–five appearances in all competitions.

In the 2009 season, Bajrami started the season well when he scored against Kalmar on 16 April 2009 and nine days later on 25 April 2009, he scored again in a 2–1 win over Ljungskile in the third round of the Swedish Cup. Between 6 July 2009 and 19 July 2009, he scored four goals in three matches against Örgryte, Helsingborgs (twice) and Djurgårdens. He also scored in a third round of the Europa League first leg, in a 2–1 win over Braga on 30 July 2009. Despite suffering from injuries, Bajrami finished the 2009 season, making twenty–nine appearance and scoring five times in all competitions.

In the 2010 season, Bajrami started the season well when he set up two goals in two matches between 11 April 2010 and 15 April 2010 against Helsingborgs and Djurgårdens despite suffering from an injury at the start of the season. Bajrami also scored two goals against Trelleborgs and GAIS, which turned out to be his last appearance for Elsborg. By then, Bajrami made fourteen appearance and scoring two times in all competitions.

FC Twente

On 25 May 2010, Bajrami signed for Eredivisie side Twente, signing a four–year contract with the club. The fee was reported to be 2.5 million euros, while Swedish based newspaper Expressen estimated the fee was 35 million SEK, which would increase to 15 million based on his appearance at Twente and 25% of the clause should he leave the club.

Bajrami made his Twente debut, in the opening game of the season, where he made his first start and played for 69 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw against Roda JC. Bajrami also made his Champions League debut in the Group Stage against Inter Milan, where he came on as a substitute, in a 2–2 draw and then made his first Champions League start against Tottenham Hotspur on 29 September 2010. However, during the match, Bajrami suffered an ankle injury and was substituted in the first half as a result. Following a surgery, it was announced that Bajrami would be out for the rest of the year. After making his return from injury, Bajrami made his return to the first team on 19 January 2011, where he came on as a substitute in the second half, in a 5–0 win over Heracles Almelo and scored his first goal for the club the following month, on 20 February 2011, in a 1–1 draw against NEC. Two months later on 14 April 2011, Bajrami scored again in the second leg of the quarter final of the Europa League, in a 3–1 loss against Villareal. Bajrami then played in the final of the KNVB Cup against Ajax, where he came on as a substitute in extra time and helped them win 3–2. In his first season at Twente, Bajrami finished the season, making thirty–two appearance and scoring two times in all competitions.

In the 2011–12 season, Bajrami suffered a setback when he suffered an injury at the start of the season and then scored on his return, in a 5–1 win over Heerenveen on 20 August 2011. After missing out one game, due to illness, Bajrami scored on his return from injury on 18 September 2011 after coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 5–2 win over ADO Den Haag. He then scored in the Europa League match on 20 October 2011, in a 4–1 win over Odense Boldklub and scored twice six days later, in the third round of the KNVB Cup, in a 4–3 win over Genemuiden. After missing out a match, due to illness he suffered for the second time this season, he scored on his return and set up one of the goals from injury, in a 5–2 win over RKC Waalwijk on 21 January 2012. Despite suffering from foot injury, which was sustained at training, Bajrami scored his third goal of the season on 11 April 2012, in a 2–2 draw against AZ Alkmaar. Despite being on the substitute bench towards the end of the 2011–12 season, Bajrami went on to make thirty–eight appearance and scoring seven times in all competitions.

AS Monaco

After announcing his desire to leave Twente, Bajrami joined Ligue 2 side Monaco on a season long loan deal for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. Upon joining the club, Bajrami revealed that he turned down a move to La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña to join Monaco.

Bajrami made his AS Monaco debut, in the opening game of the season, where he came on as a substitute in the second half, in a 4–0 win over Tours in the opening game of the season. Two weeks later on 10 August 2012, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–2 win over Istres. However, Bajrami struggled in the first team throughout the season and was sent to the reserve team as a result.

Panathinaikos

On 4 June 2013, Bajrami signed a three-year contract with Greek side Panathinaikos. Upon joining the club, Bajrami said the move to Panathinaikos could resurrected his career, having lost his place at the national team and was given a number eleven shirt for the new season.

Bajrami made his Panathinaikos debut, in the opening game of the season, where he made his first start and played the whole game, in a 2–0 win over Panetolikos. However, Bajrami suffered an injury, as well as, losing his first team place. After making his return to the first team against Veria on 19 January 2014, Bajrami then scored his first goal for the club, in the quarter final of Greek Cup, in a 4–0 win over Olympiacos Volou. Despite suffering from another injury, Bajrami finished his first season at the club, making ten appearance and scoring once in all competitions.

After making nine appearances in all competitions by the first half of the season, which was restricted, due to injuries, it was announced that on 10 March 2015 that Panathinaikos terminated his contract.

IF Elfsborg (second spell)

Shortly after leaving Panathinaikos, Bajrami returned to Sweden, where he joined Elfsborg for the second time of his career.

However, Bajrami did not make an appearance for the club throughout the 2015 season, due to suffering from a back problems. Throughout 2015, Bajrami continued to rehabilitate from his injury and made his recovery by December. Shortly after, he signed a four-year contract with the club on 23 December 2015.

After a year signing for the club, Bajrami finally made his Elfsborg debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss against BK Häcken on 3 April 2016. Bajrami then scored his first Elfsborg goal since 2010 and set up another goal, in a 2–1 win over Falkenbergs on 1 May 2016. Despite suffering from injuries, Bajrami went on to make nineteen appearance and scoring once from his return.

International career

Bajrami was part of the Sweden squad during the 2009 European Under-21 Football Championship and played all of the three matches, as Sweden U21 were eliminated in the semi–finals against England U21. Following the tournament, Bajrami went on to score two more goals for the U21 side against Denmark U21 and Bulgaria U21

In late–2009, Bajrami was called up by the senior squad for the first time and made his debut for the Sweden senior squad on 20 January 2010 against Oman. In his fourth national appearance, Bajrami scored his first national team goal in a friendly game against Scotland on 11 August 2010. A year later, Bajrami scored again on 7 June 2011, in a 5–0 win over Finland. The following year, Bajrami was called up by the squad for the UEFA 2012 and only played once, which was against France, but was eliminated from the tournament despite winning 2–0.

In February 2014, Bajrami said he pledged his international commitment to play for Kosovo in the near future, should the national side was accepted by FIFA.

Personal life

Born in Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia, (which is now Kosovo), Bajrami’s family moved to Sweden and grew up in Koping, along with his older brother, Ramush. As a result, Bajrami was granted a Sweden citizenship, making him eligible to play for the national team in the future.

In addition to playing football, Bajrami played ice hockey and even played bandy as a teenager, where he was, at one point, selected for the national youth team. However, he didn’t and opted to play football instead. Bajrami is married.