Over recent years, Albanian football has changed remarkedly and nowadays more and more footballers are playing in the best leagues and teams in the world.
If in the past there weren’t many Albanian players known across the world, now the situation is completely different. There are many playing in Italy like Thomas Strakosha, Marash Kumbulla and Nedim Bajrami, in Spain like Myrto Uzuni and in England like Armando Broja.
Over the annual summer market, some Albanian players will change clubs and try new experiences. Here, we’ll examine in more detail at five players which we expect to see next season with a new club:
1- Thomas Strakosha
Thomas, he’s one of the most talented goalkeepers Albania has ever had on their national team. He is the son of one of the legends of the Albanian National team, Foto Strakosha.
Like his father, he also plays as a goalkeeper. Strakosha has played most of his career from the youth teams until now at Lazio, where he won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana twice each. The total number of appearances made for Lazio during these years was 208. He has made a lot of important saves for Lazio and the Albanian national team thanks to his agility and movement which are his strongest qualities.
After 10 years in Italy, the player decided to not renew his contract and to try a new challenge. According to some media sources, his next challenge will be the Premier League. There are several English clubs interested in him like Fulham, Manchester United and Brentford. At Fulham and Brentford he would be the first-choice goalkeeper, while at Man United, he would serve as a second choice to David De Gea.
2- Marash Kumbulla
Kumbulla, he’s a young but very talented central defender. He plays for the moment under the orders of Jose Mourihno at Roma. Marash entered history in May as he became the first Albanian to win a European competition as Roma lifted the Conference League trophy in the Albanian territory in Tirana. During these two years at Roma under Paulo Fonseca and Mourihno, the number of matches played by him in all the competitions was 28 each season.
Due to his qualities, a lot of teams have expressed a desire to secure his services. His former coach Ivan Juric, now at Torino, is interested in him again now at Torino, also Fiorentina and Sampdoria have expressed interest in him.
Now it’s a case of wait and see if Kumbulla will choose to stay at Roma and become a consistent player under Mourihno or if he will try a new experience.
3- Nedim Bajrami
Bajrami is a young midfielder who plays for Serie A side Empoli. He plays as a number 10 role. Nedim was born and raised in Switzerland, but chose to represent the senior Albania national team.
In the last season of Serie A, he was one of the best players on his team contributing goals and assists to help the team achieve its objective – staying up. During the last year, he played in all the competitions with Empoli – 38 matches – and scored 9 goals. For him during this transfer market, interest has arrived from important teams like Napoli and Fiorentina.
4- Rey Manaj
Manaj for years now has been a regular player of the Albanian National team, despite his career having some ups and downs. He managed to play for a big team like Inter Milan at a very young age of 18 year. After the experience with the Nerazzurri, he played in different teams in Italy and Spain.
In the last season, he played on loan from Barcelona to Spezia in Serie A. At Spezia, he managed to score 5 goals in 30 matches. Despite his good performances, Spezia didn’t buy him so he returned to Barcelona. Now according to the media and reports, Manaj will start a new adventure in England at Watford.
If this happens, it will be the first time Manaj plays in the England. In London, he will be the main attacker of the team with only one goal – getting into the Premier League.
5- Armando Broja
Armando Broja is probably one of the best and most talented youngest strikers in today’s football world. His physical capabilities, his technical qualities make him a very modern and versatile attacker. In the last season, he played on loan from Chelsea to Southampton. In 38 matches through all the competitions, he scored 9 goals.
Broja is back at Chelsea, but as things seem now he will move again and play for a new team. There are a lot of interest in him in England and beyond, like for example Newcastle, West Ham, Everton, Napoli, etc. Now we should wait and see if Chelsea will loan him again or choose to sell him.
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