Meritan Shabani (born 15 March 1999) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

club

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

Club career

Bayern Munich

In the 2017–18 season, Shabani joined the squad of

Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich II (''FC Bayern Munich Amateure'' until 2005) are the reserve team of German association football club FC Bayern Munich, they currently play in the Regionalliga Bayern. In 2010–11 they played in the 3. Liga, having qualified ...

. On 27 October 2017, he made his debut in the

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern, ( en, Regional league Bavaria), is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth ti ...

in a 1–1 home draw against FV Illertissen after coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute for

Fabian Benko Fabian Benko (born 5 June 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bayernliga Süd club FC Pipinsried. Born in Germany, Benko has represented both Germany and Croatia internationally at the junior level. Club career Bay ...

. On 28 April 2018, Shabani made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

debut for the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

in a 4–1 home win against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, starting the match before being substituted off in the 56th minute for Thiago. On 9 May 2018, Shabani signed his first professional contract with Bayern, lasting two years until 30 June 2020. Shabani scored his first goal for the reserve team on 5 August 2018, scoring the second goal of the match in the 45th minute of the 2–0 home win against FV Illertissen.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 8 August 2019, Shabani signed a three-year contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

. Wolves reportedly paid a €1.5 million transfer fee. He made his Wolves debut as a substitute on 25 September 2019 against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the 2019–20 EFL Cup third round but was stretchered off injured after less than ten minutes being on the pitch. On 27 September 2019, it was confirmed that Shabani had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, requiring surgery and lengthy rehabilitation, and was therefore likely to miss the rest of the 2019–20 season.

Loan at VVV-Venlo

On 1 February 2021, Shabani signed for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

side

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, followin ...

for the remainder of the season, and a possible extension for the next season.

Grasshoppers

On 7 July 2022, Shabani signed a two-year contract with

club

, along with his Wolves teammate

Renat Dadashov Renat Dadashov ( az, Renat Oleq oğlu Dadaşov, ; also spelled ''Renat Dadaschow'' in German, born 17 May 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Hatayspor, on loan from Swiss Super League club Grasshoppers ...

. He made his debut on 24 July 2022, Grasshopper's first game of the season, coming on in the last minute of regular time. He received his first starting lineup nomination on 13 August 2023, in a 2–2 away draw against

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. He did not have an easy start at his new club, being allowed to only start in one more game before the winter break. After the break, he began to start more regularly, being nominated four times in a row. He repaid this trust with his first goal on 18 March 2023, scoring the opener in a 1–2 away victory against

International career

In November 2016, Shabani received a call-up from Germany national under-18 team for a training camp with two

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, remaining unused on the bench in both matches. In 2018, Shabani played twice in the

2018–19 Under 20 Elite League The 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League (sometimes referred to as the European Elite League) was an age-restricted association football tournament for national Under-20 teams. It was the second edition of the Under 20 Elite League. Participating tea ...

for Germany U20s.

Personal life

Shabani was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

to Kosovar parents from Shtime.

Career statistics

Honours

Bayern Munich *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 Bayern Munich II *

: 2018–19 *

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shabani, Meritan 1999 births Living people Footballers from Munich German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers German people of Kosovan descent German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Kosovan men's footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in England Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Men's association football midfielders Regionalliga players 3. Liga players FC Bayern Munich II players Bundesliga players FC Bayern Munich footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Eredivisie players VVV-Venlo players Swiss Super League players Grasshopper Club Zürich players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland