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Miralem Sulejmani

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Miralem Sulejmani
Sulejmani with Young Boys in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-12-05) 5 December 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
BSK Batajnica
2000–2005 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Partizan 1 (0)
2007–2008 Heerenveen 34 (15)
2008–2013 Ajax 103 (29)
2013–2015 Benfica 15 (1)
2015–2022 Young Boys 165 (39)
International career‡
2007–2010 Serbia U21 19 (6)
2008–2016 Serbia 20 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 April 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2015

Miralem Sulejmani (Serbian Cyrillic: Миралем Сулејмани, pronounced [mirǎlem sulejmâːni]; born 5 December 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger.

When he signed for Ajax in 2008, he became the most expensive football player to have ever been purchased by a Dutch club.[1] Over the course of seven seasons he amassed Eredivisie totals of 137 games and 44 goals. In 2013, he moved to Benfica where he sparsely played, but won five major titles in two years. He then moved to Young Boys, where he became a first team regular again.

Club career

Partizan

His first club was local FK BSK Batajnica, before he moved to FK Partizan at the age of 11 to complete his formation.

Sulejmani made his first appearance for the seniors in the 2005–06 season, aged 17, and quickly drew interest from Dutch clubs AZ Alkmaar, FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen; additionally, he also spent time at farm team FK Teleoptik.

Heerenveen

On 6 December 2006 Sulejmani signed for Heerenveen with the transfer being made effective in January of the following year. The move was controversial, with several arguments occurring between the Dutch side and his agent. Eventually Partizan, after a meeting with the Football Association of Serbia, suspended the player until 11 May 2007, keeping him out for the rest of the season; Heerenveen appealed to FIFA afterwards and, although the original verdict claimed that he should not be suspended, a second look at the case was made and he was banned again.[2]

Sulejmani as a Heerenveen player.

Sulejmani made his official debut with the Friesland team in the 2007–08 campaign, against Willem II on 17 August 2007 (0–0 draw). He scored his first Eredivisie goal the following match, but his team lost 1–4 at AFC Ajax; profiting from the departure of Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough in January 2008, he finished the campaign with 15 goals to rank joint-fifth in the scoring charts, helping his team to the fifth position and the subsequent qualification to the UEFA Cup.

Ajax

After weeks of speculation, AFC Ajax announced that it had reached an agreement for the transfer of Sulejmani. The Amsterdam club paid €16.25 million to Heerenveen, breaking the Dutch transfer-record which dated from 2005 when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had also transferred from Heerenveen to Ajax. The player signed a five-year contract, stating "I am a footballer and I only want to think about football".[3]

Sulejmani netted ten official goals in his first year with Ajax, including two in seven contests in the campaign's UEFA Cup as the club reached the round-of-16. On 18 February 2010, for the same competition, he scored after a marvellous individual play in a 1–2 home loss to Juventus, also the final round-of-32 aggregate score.[4]

Sulejmani taking a free kick with Ajax.

On 11 August 2010, West Ham United confirmed that they had agreed terms with Ajax and Sulejmani to take him on a year-long loan subject to the granting of a work permit,[5] which was denied the following day.[6] He continued to display solidly in the following two seasons, scoring 19 goals in 54 appearances combined en route to back-to-back national championships.

On 4 March 2012, in a match against Roda JC, Sulejmani was seriously injured after 30 minutes. Two days later the Ajax medical team has determined that he would have to undergo surgery to the meniscus, going on to miss the rest of the season.[7] In February of the following year, it was reported that he was set to join S.L. Benfica as a free agent;[8][9][10] after this was confirmed, coach Frank de Boer demoted him to the reserves, where he remained until the end of his tenure.[11]

Benfica

Several days after the initial reports of the deal with Benfica appeared, it was finally confirmed that Sulejmani, along with countryman Filip Đuričić, passed medical tests and agreed to a five-year contract effective as of July 2013.[12][13] Legendary Predrag Mijatović praised his countryman's abilities.[14]

Sulejmani made his Primeira Liga debut on 25 August, coming in midway through the second half of a 2–1 home win against Gil Vicente FC. He scored his first official goal for his new club on 15 December, netting the 3–2 winner at S.C. Olhanense and again featuring as a substitute.

On 30 December 2014, seven months later after his injury in the Europa League final, Sulejmani made his comeback, as a substitute, against Nacional in the third round of league cup.

Young Boys

On 9 June 2015, Benfica announced that Sulejmani had joined Swiss club Young Boys.[15]

He was part of the Young Boys squad that won the 2017–18 Swiss Super League, their first league title in 32 years.[16] Sulejmani left Young Boys after the 2021-22 Swiss Super League season ended.[17]

International career

Sulejmani was named in Zvonko Živković's 18-man squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. On 7 September 2008 he converted two penalties for the under-21s in their 8–0 demolition of Hungary in a qualifying match for the 2009 European Championships.[18]

Sulejmani made his debut for the senior team on 6 February 2008, in a friendly with Macedonia in Skopje. He netted his first international goal on 12 September 2012, against Wales for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (6–1 win).[19]

Personal life

Sulejmani's father Miljaim is an ethnic Gorani whose family moved from Gora in southern Kosovo to Batajnica neighbourhood of Belgrade in 1948. His father Miljaim also played football, for OFK Beograd and GSP Polet. Miralem's mother Silvija is a Serb born in Zagreb, Croatia.[20]

Sulejmani is close friends with Danko Lazović, a fellow professional footballer who also spent much of his career in the Dutch top flight; Sulejmani notably played for AFC Ajax, whereas Lazović played for their rivals Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.[21] In 2010, he met his girlfriend Vesna Mušović.[22] He became a father to a son in October 2011.[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2022[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Partizan 2005–06 SuperLiga 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Heerenveen 2006–07 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2007–08 34 14 2 1 2 0 0 0 38 15
Total 34 14 2 1 2 0 — 38 15
Ajax 2008–09 Eredivisie 27 8 0 0 7 2 — 34 10
2009–10 17 2 4 0 10 1 — 31 3
2010–11 32 8 6 3 14 2 1[a] 0 53 13
2011–12 22 11 1 0 8 1 1[a] 0 32 12
2012–13 5 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 0
Total 103 29 13 3 40 6 2 0 158 38
Benfica 2013–14 Primeira Liga 11 1 2 1 10 0 3[b] 1 26 3
2014–15 4 0 0 0 0 0 4[b] 0 8 0
Total 15 1 2 1 10 0 7 1 34 3
Young Boys 2015–16 Swiss Super League 31 8 2 0 4 0 — 37 8
2016–17 27 8 1 0 7 1 — 35 9
2017–18 32 11 4 2 8 0 — 44 13
2018–19 17 7 2 2 7 0 — 26 9
2019–20 15 4 3 0 1 0 — 19 4
2020–21 28 0 1 0 8 2 — 37 2
2021–22 16 1 2 1 1 0 — 19 2
Total 166 39 15 5 36 3 — 217 47
Career total 319 83 32 10 88 9 9 1 448 103
  1. ^ a b Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  2. ^ a b Appearances in Taça da Liga

International

As of 29 March 2016
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2008 3 0
2009 3 0
2010 1 0
2011 0 0
2012 5 1
2013 3 0
2014 1 0
2015 2 0
2016 2 0
Total 20 1
Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sulejmani goal.
List of international goals scored by Miralem Sulejmani
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 September 2012 Karađorđe Stadium, Novi Sad, Serbia  Wales 6–1 6–1 2014 World Cup qualification

Honours

Ajax

Benfica

Young Boys

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Miljoenenflop Sulejmani gratis naar Benfica" [Million flop Sulejmani for free to Benfica] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  2. ^ "De Sulejmani Code" [The Sulejmani code] (in Dutch). Voetbal Zone. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Miralem Suljemani krijgt rugnummer Luque" [Miralem Suljemani gets Luque number] (in Dutch). Voetbal Plus. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Ajax verliest met 2–1 van Juventus" [Ajax loses 2–1 against Juventus] (in Dutch). Ajax's official website. 18 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Club update on Sulejmani". West Ham United. 11 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Hammers scrap Sulejmani loan after work permit failure". BBC Sport. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Ajax's Sulejmani may miss the remainder of the season". Goal.com. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Sulejmani: Benfica contrata médio criativo do Ajax" [Sulejmani: Benfica signs Ajax creative midfielder] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Miralem Suljmani. Um jogador de extremos" [Miralem Sulejmani. An extreme player] (in Portuguese). IOnline. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Ex-West Ham and Newcastle target on verge of Benfica switch". Talk Sport. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  11. ^ Sulejmani marca pelas reservas (Sulejmani scores for reserves); Record, 20 February 2013 (Portuguese)
  12. ^ Benfica: Sulejmani e Djuricic assinam por cinco anos (Benfica: Sulejmani and Djuricic sign for five years) Archived 27 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Diário Digital, 23 February 2013 (Portuguese)
  13. ^ "Official: Benfica complete Sulejmani signing". Goal.com. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  14. ^ ""É um regalo ver Sulejmani a jogar" – Mijatovic" ["It's a treat to watch Sulejmani play" – Mijatovic] (in Portuguese). A Bola. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  15. ^ "Sulejmani transferred to Young Boys". S.L. Benfica. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  16. ^ Reuters
  17. ^ @BSC_YB (28 April 2022). "Nach dieser Spielzeit wird eine sehr erfolgreiche Ära zu Ende gehen 🥲😢💛🖤Miralem Sulejmani wird nach sieben Jahren…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Kačar stars in Serbian rout". UEFA.com. 7 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  19. ^ "Serbia 6–1 Wales". BBC Sport. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  20. ^ Blic (6 November 2009). "UEFA razočarala moju rodbinu iz Zagreba" (in Serbian). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Ličnost Danas: Miralem Sulejmani". 2009.
  22. ^ "Sulejmani: Krivo mi je što sam otišao".
  23. ^ "Sulejmani dobio sina". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  24. ^ "M. Sulejmani". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  25. ^ Cunha, Pedro Jorge (17 May 2015). "Benfica bicampeão: 28 com as faixas e dois à espera" [Benfica back-to-back champion: 28 with the sashes and two await] (in Portuguese). Maisfutebol. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  26. ^ "Spot-on Sevilla leave Benfica dreams in tatters". UEFA.com. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  27. ^ "Young Boys wins Swiss league title in 54th week of season". The Washington Post. Associated Press. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  28. ^ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". football.ch (in German). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
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