Valon Ahmedi

Early career

Ahmedi was born in Ohrid, modern day Republic of Macedonia, to ethnic Albanian parents and was raised in Castellanza, Italy. He began his career with Kastelbell. He moved to F.C. Südtirol in August 2011 after being spotted by the club's scout and was offered a place in the youth team.

He made his senior debut for Südtirol on 22 December 2012 against Tritium during the 2012–13 season, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Alessandro Campo in the 1–1 draw. His next and last senior appearance of the 2012–13 season came on 13 January 2013 against Pavia in a 2–1 loss, where he came on in the 67th minute of the game in place of Alessandro Furlan.

In the 2013–14 season he played overall 4 matches all as a substitute.

Celje

In July 2014 Ahmedi signed with Slovenian PrvaLiga side NK Celje. He made his debut in the opening match of the 2014–15 season against Zavrč playing the full 90-minutes. He was considered as an important player for the team and regularly played for entire matches, and on 1 August 2014 he scored his first goal against Krka in the third round, helping his team to a 3–0 victory. Ahmed had a three months break as he got injured in the start of the 2015 and missed out for two months until May 2015.

He finished his first season at Celje with 20 league appearances, scoring five goals. Celje finished as league runners-up and this made them to secure a place in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifiers. Ahmedi also played five matches in the 2014–15 Slovenian Football Cup and scored one goal, as Celje finished runners-up losing to the final against Koper.

He made his European debut on 2 July 2015 in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round against Śląsk Wrocław, where he played for 45 minutes before being substituted at the half-time for Sunny Omoregie. In the second leg on 9 July, Ahmedi started from the bench and came in to play in the 79th minute in place of Danijel Miškić. The match ended in a 3–1 loss and it resulted in elimination of Celje 4–1 on aggregate.

Maribor

He signed for Slovenian champions NK Maribor in January 2016. He debuted on 20 April 2016 in the 2015–16 Slovenian Cup semi-final game against Zavrč, replacing Dare Vršič in the 64th minute. Maribor won the game 5–1 after extra time and secured a place in the final.

International career

Ahmedi was eligible to represent Macedonia through birthplace, Italy through residence, and Albania through his ethnicity.

Albania under-19

He caught the attention of the Albanian Football Association in 2012 with his performances in the youth team of Südtirol, and he accepted their invitation to the join Albania U19s for a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 on 8 May 2012, which he featured in from the start as a striker in the 3–1 win. Then, Ahmedi was called up against in August 2012 to participate with Albania U19 in a friendly tournament in Slovenia.

Ahmedi was named in the Foto Strakosha squad for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification from 12–17 October 2012 with opponents Italy U19, Belgium U19 and Belarus U19. In the opening match of the tournament on 12 October 2012 against Italy U19, he made it his debut by playing as a starter and got substituted off in the 81st minute for Dardan Vuthaj in a 3–0 loss. In the second match against Belgium U19 he was included in the starting line-up and played for 84 minutes as Albania U19 made a cruscial 3–1 victory. In the closing match against Belarus, Ahmedi managed to play the full 90-minutes but, however, was unable to avoid a 2–0 loss which resulted in elimination for Albania U19, which finished in the last place in their group.

Albania under-21

Following impressive performances in the under-19s national team as well as his club Südtirol, Ahmedi received his first call up for the Albanian under-21 national team for a friendly against Macedonia U21 on 6 February 2013.

Ahmedi was called up for the first time in an official competitive match by the coach Skënder Gega for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification opening match against Liechtenstein on 28 March 2015, but he withdrew due to a latelly injury at Celje.

Albania senior side

Following his good form at Maribor in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round, progressing and qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage, he received his first call for the Albania senior team by newly appointed coach Christian Panucci for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Liechtenstein and Macedonia (which he announced to have refused only to play for Albania) on 2 and 5 September 2017.

Personal life

Ahmedi speaks Albanian as a mother tongue, Italian, German, English, Croatian, and Slovenian.

Club

International

Honours

Maribor