Taulant Xhaka

Early life

Taulant is the elder brother of Granit Xhaka, who is also a professional footballer and plays for Arsenal and the Switzerland national team. Their family moved from Prishtina to Basel in Switzerland before either was born.

Club career

Xhaka started his youth football at FC Concordia Basel and moved to FC Basel in 2002. He played for various FC Basel youth teams and from 2008 became a regular member of the under-21 team for two years in the Swiss 1. Liga. At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, he and his brother Granit moved up into the first team squad where he begun playing as a defender. He made his first team debut on 19 September 2010 in the 5–0 Swiss Cup win against FC Mendrisio-Stabio. He made his Super League debut on 27 February 2011 in the 1–0 away win against Luzern. At the end of the season, the team won the Super League title, Xhaka's first silverware with the club.

In the next season, Xhaka scored his first Basel goal on 10 September during the 4–0 away league win against Servette, where he came on as a substitute. On 27 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut as a substitute in the 3–3 away draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

On 18 January 2012, it was announced Xhaka was sent on loan to Grasshoppers to gain first-team playing experience. He made his Grasshoppers debut on 12 February during the 2–0 away defeat to Zürich, and until the end of the season he established himself in the starting lineup, making 13 appearances during the second part of 2011–12 season. After spending the 2012–13 again on loan at Grasshoppers, Basel recalled him into their squad.

During the 2013–14 season, Xhaka established himself in the starting lineup, making 23 league appearances and scoring two goals en route to winning his second league championship with Basel. He also made four cup appearances as the team reached in the final but was beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. He was also an important instrument in team's European campaign, playing ten matches in the Champions League and five in the UEFA Europa League.

In the 2014–15 season, Xhaka was able to further cement his place in the lineup, playing 29 matches in league, as Basel were crowned champions for the sixth time in a row. He scored his first goal of the season on 27 September in the 1–1 home draw against Thun. On 13 December, during the cup fixture against Sion, Xhaka suffered an injury which kept him sidlined until the January 2015.

On 9 January 2015, Xhaka extended his contract for a further three years, up until 30 June 2018. In February 2015, he was included in the 2014 Team of the Year by Swiss Football Association and was placed as right-defender. He became one of the three Albania international footballers who participated in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in history, alongside Basel teammates Shkëlzen Gashi and Arlind Ajeti.

Under trainer Urs Fischer, Xhaka won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 season and at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season for the sixth time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the Swiss Cup for the 12th time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in club history.

Following the retirement of Matías Emilio Delgado in the start of the 2017–18 season, on 5 August 2017, Xhaka became Vice-captain of Basel.

Switzerland youth level national teams

Xhaka played for the Swiss youth squad at the U-17 level. He was part of the Swiss U-17 squad which played in the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Antalya, Turkey. In 2009 and 2010, he played for the Switzerland under-18 and the Switzerland under-19 teams. He made his Swiss under-20 debut on 6 September 2010 in the Stadion Breite, Schaffhausen, as right back in the 2–3 home defeat against Germany.

Xhaka made his Swiss under-21 debut as a substitute on 7 October 2011 in the 1–0 away win against Georgia. In the return match on 10 November, a 5–0 home win in the Cornaredo Stadium, he was a starter.

Albania

In May 2013, the media reported Xhaka would welcome a call-up from the Albania senior team. He later confirmed in an interview his choice of Albania was definitive. In October 2013, his choice was influenced by his younger brother Granit, who did not want him to repeat his mistake; that is, choosing to represent Switzerland instead of their descence national team, Albania. On 18 December 2013, Xhaka received Albanian citizenship, though he still required approval from FIFA in order to represent Albania internationally.

Xhaka received his first call up by Albania head coach Gianni De Biasi for a friendly match against Malta on 5 March 2014, but he was replaced by Renato Arapi because he had been injured on 2 March 2014 during a match between Basel and Thun in which he was substituted off in the 72nd minute. Xhaka received the second consecutive call-up for a trio of friendly matches of Albania against Romania, Hungary and San Marino on 31 May, 4 and 8 June 2014 respectively. Days later, he withdrew again due to injury. On 25 June, Xhaka received approval from FIFA allowing him to represent Albania in international official matches.

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers

Xhaka received his third consecutive call-up for Albania's match against Portugal on 7 September 2014, a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. He made his debut in that mach, playing the full 90 minutes in Albania's surprise 1–0 away victory. He played well and was included in the best XI for the first round matches of Euro 2016 qualifying.

Xhaka was also included in Albania's starting line-up for its qualifying match against Serbia on 14 October 2014. In the 40th minute of that match, English referee Martin Atkinson halted play for a second time after flares had been thrown from the crowd in the direction of Albanian players. Meanwhile, at the same time, a drone seemingly remote-controlled was seen hovering above the pitch, parallel to the top of the stand, before falling towards the pitch 15 yards into the Serbian half. The Greater Albania insignia referred to the notion of an extended area in which all ethnic Albanians reside one that would include Kosovo. Serbian player Stefan Mitrović caught the flag and was immediately accosted by Xhaka and the fellow Albanian player Andi Lila, who took the flag from him. After the match Xhaka, along with Lorik Cana, were declared citizens of honour from the mayor of the city of Mitrovica, Kosovo, for the bravery shown in "protecting national symbols".

UEFA Euro 2016

On 21 May 2016, Xhaka was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for the final stages of Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man Euro 2016 squad, announced on 31 May.

In Albania's opening match, against Switzerland, Xhaka competed against his brother Granit, becoming the first pair of brothers to play against each other in the entire UEFA European Championship history. At that day, their mother watched from the crowd with a T-shirt combining both nations' flags. The match ended in a 0–1 defeat for Albania, and Taulant Xhaka threw a water bottle in anger after being substituted. In Albania's second match, against hosts France, Xhaka played the final 16 minutes as a substittue for Burim Kukeli in Albania's eventual 2–0 defeat. In the third match, against Romania, Xhaka was an unused substitute as Albania notched an historic 1–0 win, the goal being scored by Armando Sadiku. Albania finished the group in third position with three points with a goal difference of −2, and was ranked last in the rankings of the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.

Club

International

Honours