Arbër Avni Zeneli (born 25 February 1995) is a 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 ...

or left winger for

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football le ...

club

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

and the Kosovo national team. Born in Sweden, he previously represented the country at the international youth level and was part of the Sweden U21 team that won the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

Club career

IF Elfsborg

Youth teams

Zeneli started playing football for Hälsinggården, but left as a 12-year old for IF Elfsborg's youth academy. On 29 October 2011, he scored a late winning goal in the final of Swedish Under-17 Championships against Brommapojkarna. The following year he helped his team reach the final in the same competition and he scored another goal, although this time IF Elfsborg lost to

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

. On 5 November 2013, he won the Allsvenskan U21 with IF Elfsborg against Häcken after coming on as a substitute at 63rd minute in place of Arjan Mostafa.

First team

Having been promoted to the senior team in December 2013. On 1 March 2014, he made his debut with IF Elfsborg in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

2013–14 Svenska Cupen The 2013–14 Svenska Cupen was the 58th season of Svenska Cupen and the second season with the current format. The winners of the competition earned a place in the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. If they had already q ...

against Östersunds after being named in the starting line-up and he went on to play a total of three games in the competition which IF Elfsborg later won beating

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edit ...

in the final. Zeneli made his first

appearance on 31 March after coming on as a substitute at 75th minute in place of injured

Simon Hedlund Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan club Elfsborg. Hedlund joined IF Elfsborg at the age of 16 and debuted in the Allsvenskan in 2012. In 2016, he moved to Uni ...

in a 2–1 away defeat against Åtvidabergs. He played 16 games during the 2014 season and finished the season by scoring his first senior goal that subsequently sealed the win for his team against Brommapojkarna and he dedicated the goal to his former coach

Klas Ingesson Klas Inge "Klabbe" Ingesson (20 August 1968 – 29 October 2014) was a Swedish professional footballer and manager. He spent most of his career as a midfielder in Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Italy and France. Ingesson represented the ...

who had died a couple of days earlier.

Heerenveen

On 10 November 2015, Zeneli signed a three-and-a-half year contract with

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 ...

club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

. Heerenveen reportedly paid a €2 million transfer fee. On 16 January 2016, he made his debut in a 5–2 home win against

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a tot ...

after being named in the starting line-up. On 23 January 2016, Zeneli scored his first goal for Heerenveen in a 3–1 win against

Willem II Willem II may refer to: People * William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands * William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), King of the Netherlands Other uses * Willem II (football club), a Du ...

in Matchday 19 of

2015–16 Eredivisie The 2015–16 Eredivisie season was the 60th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. Defending champions PSV retained their title. Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league: the top 15 teams from the 2014–15 season ...

, and his performance earned him the man of the match award.

Reims

2018–19 season

On 25 January 2019,

announced for the contract negotiations between Zeneli and

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

. A day later, he joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

side Reims after agreeing to a five-year deal. Reims reportedly paid a €4 million transfer fee. On 2 February 2019, he made his debut in a 2–1 home win against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

after coming on as a substitute at 73rd minute in place of injured

Mathieu Cafaro Mathieu Cafaro (born 25 March 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Saint-Étienne. Club career Toulouse Cafaro is a youth exponent from Toulouse. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 10 September 2015 against B ...

2019–20 season

During international duties in June 2019, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was sidelined for most of the 2019–20 season. After returning from injury, the Ligue 1 season was suspended indefinitely and since cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

2020–21 season

Zeneli returned to the pitch for the 2020–21 season, and made a total of 36 appearances in which he scored three goals. He also featured in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

qualifiers with Reims, who were eventually knocked out by Fehérvár in the third round. In August 2021, Zeneli tore his anterior cruciate ligament again, sidelining him for another extended period of time.

International career

Sweden

From 2010, until 2016, Zeneli has been part of Sweden at

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...

international level, respectively has been part of the U17, U19 and U21 teams and he with these teams played 35 matches and scored 7 goals. On 2 June 2015, he was named as part of the Sweden U21's 23-man squad for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

, where was declared the champion even though he was an unused substitute in those matches.

Kosovo

On 24 August 2016, Zeneli decided to represent

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

international level. On 2 October 2016, he received a call-up from Kosovo for a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

matches against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. On 6 October 2016, Zeneli made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia after being named in the starting line-up.

Personal life

Zeneli was born in Säter, Sweden to Albanian parents from Selac, a village near Mitrovica, but grew up in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabi ...

, before moving to

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them t ...

with his family when he was 11 years old. Zeneli has named his father Avni as his greatest role model in life. He is the older brother of the Kosovan footballer Besfort Zeneli.

Career statistics

Club

International

;International goals
''Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first.''

Honours

IF Elfsborg *

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams co ...

: 2013–14 Sweden U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeneli, Arbër 1995 births Living people Footballers from Mitrovica, Kosovo People from Säter Municipality Footballers from Dalarna County Men's association football wingers Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in France Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Allsvenskan players IF Elfsborg players Eredivisie players SC Heerenveen players Ligue 1 players Stade de Reims players Süper Lig players Adana Demirspor footballers