Armando Sadiku

Armando Sadiku
Personal information
Full name Armando Sadiku
Date of birth (1991-05-27) 27 May 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Elbasan, Albania
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Goa
Number 9
Youth career
1998–2007 Fushë Mbreti
2007–2008 Turbina
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Turbina Cërrik 40 (10)
2009–2010 Gramozi Ersekë 29 (8)
2010–2011 Elbasani 14 (5)
2011–2012 Locarno 40 (28)
2012–2013 Lugano 43 (24)
2014–2017 Zürich 55 (15)
2015–2016 Zürich U21 8 (2)
2016Vaduz (loan) 16 (7)
2017Lugano (loan) 16 (9)
2017–2018 Legia Warsaw 17 (2)
2018–2020 Levante 6 (0)
2019Lugano (loan) 16 (3)
2019–2020Málaga (loan) 36 (13)
2020–2021 BB Erzurumspor 5 (0)
2021 Bolívar 7 (2)
2021–2022 Las Palmas 24 (4)
2022–2023 Cartagena 28 (8)
2023–2024 Mohun Bagan 22 (8)
2024– Goa 7 (8)
International career
2009 Albania U19 2 (0)
2011–2012 Albania U21 7 (6)
2012–2023 Albania 39 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:52, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 May 2024

Armando Durim Sadiku (born 27 May 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Goa and the Albania national team.[1]

Sadiku began his senior career with Turbina playing two seasons in Albania's second tier Kategoria e Parë. In 2009 he went to Gramozi in top-flight division Kategoria Superiore where he had a breakthrough year, scoring eight goals, which earned him a move to fellow top-flight side Elbasani. Sadiku played only a half season with Elbasani, as he was banned from Albanian football due to non-sporting behavior. His ban forced him to move abroad going to Switzerland playing at first for Locarno. Sadiku found his form in Switzerland, becoming a reliable goalscorer in second tier Swiss Challenge League, winning top goalscorer award in his first full season 2011–12 Swiss Challenge League. In July 2012 he moved to Lugano gaining another consecutive season as topscorer with 20 goals in the 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League. In November 2013, he joined top flight side Zürich but his time there was marred by lack of playing time and a few injuries most notably in May 2014 which left him sidelined for six months. He returned the next season but failed to make an impact, scoring only three goals, but the club still won the 2013–14 Swiss Cup. Sadiku's form improved in the first half of 2015–16 season, scoring eight goals in 18 appearances. Despite being the top scorer of the team at this time, he was sent on loan to fellow relegation strugglers Vaduz, which was dubbed as an "owngoal" by Swiss media.[2] Sadiku helped Vaduz to retain their top flight status for another season, in addition relegating his parent club.[3] In January 2017, Sadiku was sent on loan again, this time at his former side FC Lugano where he rejoined Paolo Tramezzani.[4] In 2023, following a successful stint with the Spanish club FC Cartagena, he joined Indian Super League side Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

An Albanian international, Sadiku with 12 goals scored, is his country's joint active player top goalscorer along Sokol Cikalleshi and 4th in the overall ranking. At youth level, he represented Albania under-19 and under-21 side with whom he scored 6 goals in only 7 appearances, thus being all-time top goalscorer.[5] He made his senior debut in 2012 and was part of UEFA Euro 2016 squad where he scored Albania's first goal at a UEFA European Championship.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Armando Sadiku". Legia.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Owngoal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vaduz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Return to Lugano was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Albania - Under-21". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference First win was invoked but never defined (see the help page).