Armando Vajushi (born 3 December 1991) is an Albanian 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 lea ...

who last played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a winger for

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club Petrolul Ploiești. Vajushi made his senior debut for Vllaznia Shkodër in 2009, aged 17. He moved abroad to Bulgarian club

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

in January 2012, and three years later earned a transfer to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

in Italy. He did not make any appearances for the ''Gialloblu'' and spent the following seasons with stints in the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

, before returning to Albania with

Teuta Durrës Klubi i Futbollit Teuta, commonly referred to as ''Teuta'', is an Albanian professional football club based in Durrës. The club competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Niko Dovana Stadiu ...

in 2019. In 2020, Vajushi joined Petrolul Ploiești in Romania. Internationally, he registered his full debut for the Albania national team in a 0–4 friendly loss to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in June 2011.

Club career

Vllaznia Shkodër

Vajushi is a product of the academies of his hometown club Vllaznia Shkodër, where he was part for 3 years before becoming professional. Vajushi made his professional debut for Vllaznia Shkodër in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against

Rapid Vienna Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

on 16 July 2009, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Fetim Kasapi in the 5–0 loss. He made his league debut in the opening game on 23 August 2009 against

Besa Kavajë Besa or BESA may refer to: Arts & entertainment * ''Besa'' (newspaper), a newspaper published in Albania * ''Besa'' (TV series), a Serbian-British television series produced by Adrenalin and Red Planet Pictures * ''The Besa'', a novel by Albanian ...

, replacing Ansi Nika in the 72nd minute in the 2–0 loss. In UEFA.com's season review of 2010–11, Vajushi was the 'One To Watch' and described as "one of the hottest prospects in Albania" after a successful campaign in which he made 32 league appearances for Vllaznia Shkodër and earned his first full international cap with

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. He went on trial at

German Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

before the start of the 2011–12 season but Köln did not follow up their interest in the player as they deemed his €300,000 price tag too expensive. He even scored twice in a 7-0 friendly against Vorgebirgsauswahl and was described by manager Stale Solbakken as being "very fast, even mentally" and that he was convinced in his ability.

Litex Lovech

On 3 January 2012, Vajushi joined

Bulgarian A PFG The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

title holders

on a three-and-a-half-year contract, for a fee of €100,000. He made his debut in a 3–0 home win over

Vidima-Rakovski FC Sevlievo () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Sevlievo, which currently competes in the North-West Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football league system. Their home ground is Stadion Rakovski, which currently has ...

on 3 March, coming on as a substitute for Galin Ivanov. On 12 May, Vajushi scored his first goal, netted the fourth for Litex's 5–0 victory over

Kaliakra Kavarna FC Kaliakra Kavarna () is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Kavarna, which currently competes in the A RFG Dobrich, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1922 as Kaliakra Sport Club, the club spent most of its history in am ...

. On 2 March 2013, he scored two goals in the 0–2 away win over

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

and a few days later he voted by journalists as the player of the

Bulgarian A Football Group The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

16th week. In the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Vajushi played in all 30 league games for Litex and finished the season with 9 goals. On 10 August 2013, Vajushi scored Litex's 1000th A PFG goal in a 5–1 away win over Pirin Gotse Delchev. Vajushi finished the first part of the 2013–2014 season with a total of 24 appearances (including 2 in the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

), 9 goals (were 8 goals scored in the league, positioning in 10th place in the League's rank of Top scorers and 1 goal scored in Bulgarian Cup), also a total of 9 assists, positioning in second place behind

Zdravko Lazarov Zdravko Lazarov (; born 20 February 1976) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football coach and a former player. Lazarov's professional playing career as a Midfielder#Winger, winger spanned nearly 30 years, during which he playe ...

on League's rank of Top assists. Litex were placed as runners-up in the

League table A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

and gained entry in the

Championship Group In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this syst ...

, who played with a total of seven teams. Vajushi finished the 2013–2014 season scoring in total 11 goals (including 1 in the

) in 33 appearances and Litex ranked 3rd in the league table, gaining entry to play in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

for the next season.

Italy

On 1 February 2015 Vajushi signed for Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo (, ), is an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

becoming the second Albanian player to transfer in Italy during the Winter transfers window, after

Andi Lila Andi Lila (born 12 February 1986) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was a versatile player, having spent his early career as a full-back. Lila began his career with local side Besa Kavajë, ...

who moved to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. On 20 July 2016, Vajushi moved to

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

Teuta Durrës

On 4 February 2019, Vajushi joined

on a contract for the rest of the season.

Petrolul Ploiești

On 22 January 2020, he signed for Romanian club Petrolul Ploiești.

International career

He made his international debut with the

Albania national under-19 football team The Albania national under-19 football team represents Albania in international football at this age level in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup, as well as any other under-19 international football tournaments. ...

in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (qualifying round) 2010 on 13 November 2009 in the opening match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, finished in the hard 5–0 loss in where Vajushi came in as a substitute in the second-half 59th minute in place of Edon Hasani. Vajushi was called up for the

Albania national under-21 football team The Albania national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which is held every two years. ...

's closing match of the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship started with a qualifying competition which began on 27 March 2009 and finished on 13 October 2010. The final tournament was held in Denmark between 11–25 June 2011. The first stage of the qualifyin ...

Group 10 Group 10, numbered by current IUPAC style, is the group of chemical elements in the periodic table that consists of nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and darmstadtium (Ds). All are d-block transition metals. All known isotopes of dar ...

against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

on 4 September 2010. He made it his debut for Albania U21 against Azerbaijan by coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute in place of

Ardit Shehaj Ardit Shehaj (born 23 September 1990) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Kosovan club Flamurtari Pristina in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. Club career On 24 January 2012, Shehaj was sent on loan to fellow ...

and the match finished in the 3–2 loss. For the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2011 and 2012 to decide the qualifiers for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Israel. The draw for ...

Vajushi played in 7 out 8 matches, all as a starter where he got substituted off in only 1 match, as Albania U21 came last trailing behind

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

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, with 1 win and 2 draws, 11 goals scored and 18 conceded. He made his international debut for

Albania national football team The Albania national football team () represents Albania in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Albanian Football Federation (FSHF), the governing body for football in Albania. It is a member of UEFA in Eur ...

on 20 June 2011 in a friendly match against

. Vajushi scored his first goal for Albania on 8 June 2014, playing as a starter against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

and scoring the second goal in the 32nd minute, also gave an assist for the opening goal scored by

Mërgim Mavraj Mërgim Mustafë Mavraj (born 9 June 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Born in Germany, he represented the Albania national team from 2012 until 2020. Mavraj previously played for Germany U21 team, as we ...

in the 28th minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vajushi goal''.

Honours

Individual *

Albanian Footballer of the Year Albanian Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the best professional Albanian footballer elected by Football Association of Albania members, coaches and captains of the Kategoria Superiore clubs. The award can also be given to a forei ...

: 2011 * Albanian Superliga Talent of the Season:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

Player of the Month: February 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vajushi, Armando 1991 births Living people Footballers from Shkodër Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Kategoria Superiore players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Serie B players Liga II players KF Shkodra players KF Vllaznia Shkodër players FC Lovech players AC ChievoVerona players US Livorno 1915 players FC Pro Vercelli 1892 players US Avellino 1912 players KF Teuta players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's youth international footballers Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania 21st-century Albanian sportsmen