Bashkim Ajdini (born 10 December 1992), previously known as Bashkim Renneke, 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 lea ...

who plays as a right-back for German club

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

. Born in Sweden, he has chosen to represent the Kosovo national team.

Club career

VfL Osnabrück

On 24 May 2016, Ajdini joined 3. Liga side

. On 31 July 2016, he made his debut in a 0–1 away win against Preußen Münster after coming on as a substitute at 58th minute in place of Jules Reimerink. Twenty-six days after debut, Ajdini scored his first goal for VfL Osnabrück in his second appearance for the club in a 4–2 away defeat over Werder Bremen II in 3. Liga.

SV Sandhausen

On 28 June 2021, Ajdini joined 2. Bundesliga side

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...

, to replace the injured Dennis Diekmeier as the second choice. On 25 July 2021, he made his debut in a 0–2 home defeat against

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Return to VfL Osnabrück

On 20 June 2023, Ajdini returned to

, shortly before promoted to 2. Bundesliga.

International career

Ajdini was eligible for

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

internationally, as well as

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, his birthplace. On 25 May 2021, he received a call-up from

for the friendly matches 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

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, he was an unused substitute in these matches.

Personal life

Ajdini was born in Halmstad, Sweden, where his parents had emigrated to escape the tensions of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

, and later settled in Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, Germany. His family was deported back to Veliki Trnovac in August 2003, but he returned to Germany a year later after being adopted by a German family living in Hövelhof and taking their surname Renneke instead of his original surname Ajdini. On 5 March 2019, he re-took his birth surname "Ajdini".

References

External links

* * * Living people 1992 births Footballers from Halmstad Men's association football fullbacks Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish men's footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish people of Kosovan descent Swedish people of Albanian descent German men's footballers German people of Kosovan descent German people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent 3. Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Arminia Bielefeld players SG Sonnenhof Großaspach players VfL Osnabrück players SV Sandhausen players 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen {{Kosovo-footy-bio-stub