Enis Bardhi (born 2 July 1995) is a Macedonian 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 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. ...

for Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

and North Macedonia national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, Macedonia (now North Macedonia), to Albanian parents, Bardhi started his early career at KF Skupi. He later joined the

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

's youth system in 2013. In November of that year, however, he agreed to a one-year professional deal with Swedish Football Division 2 club KSF Prespa Birlik. He featured in ten matches and scored five goals for the club during his spell, helping in their narrow escape from relegation.

Újpest

In August 2014, Bardhi moved to Hungarian

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

club

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

on trial, and signed a three-year contract late in the month.

Levante

On 17 July 2017, Bardhi agreed to a three-year deal with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

for an estimated €1.5 million. He made his La Liga debut on August 21, starting in a 1–0 home win against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. On 26 August, he scored his debut goal in the top tier, a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the Laws of the Game (association football), laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either dire ...

in a 2–2 home draw against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

Trabzonspor

On 12 August 2022, following Levante's relegation from La Liga, Bardhi moved to Turkish

club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

. On 15 January 2025 his contract with the club was mutually terminated.

Bodrum F.K.

On 24 January 2025 Turkish

club

Bodrum F.K. Bodrum Futbol Kulübü, known as Sipay Bodrum FK due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Bodrum. History The club was founded under the name ''Bodrumspor'' in 1931 by Derviş Görgün, who was also a foo ...

announced the signing of Bardhi until the end of the season. He debuted with his new team on January 26, subbing in for

Jonathan Okita Jonathan Yula Okita (born 5 October 1996) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Bodrum. Born in Germany, he plays for the DR Congo national team. Club career Okita made his Belgian First Divis ...

at minute 83 of the game played against

Eyüpspor Eyüpspor Kulübü, known as ikas Eyüpspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional association football, football club located in the Eyüpsultan district of Istanbul. Their colours are lavender and yellow. Their home ground is Eyü ...

. Bardhi would begin his next match, played against

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

on 31 January 2025, on the bench as well, subbing in for Celal Dumanlı at 62’. He played his first match as a part of Bodrum’s starting 11 at his next game, a

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

match played against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

on 5 February 2025.

International career

Bardhi was born in Macedonia to a

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo (, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the north of A ...

family and was thus eligible to represent

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Bardhi desired to represent Albania, stating "''I do not believe there is an Albanian born in Skopje, with Albanian families, who would not want to play for Albania''".

Redi Jupi Redi Bashkim Jupi (born 31 May 1974) is an Albanian retired footballer. He played in the central midfield for KS Dinamo Tirana and has 19 caps for the Albania national team since his debut in 1995. Jupi is currently the manager of Albania U21 ...

, who was appointed as scouting manager for the

Albanian Football Association The Albanian Football Federation (; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it organises the national football leagues of Kategoria Superiore, Kategoria e Parë, Kategoria e Dytë, Kategoria e Tretë, Alba ...

, never approached Bardhi or responded to Bardhi's agents. With

Football Federation of Macedonia The Football Federation of Macedonia – FFM () or Football Federation of North Macedonia is the governing body of football in North Macedonia, based in Skopje. History FFM was officially formed as part of the Football Association of Yugoslavia ...

showing genuine interest and Bardhi viewing the

's handling of the situation and response as unprofessional, he accepted the call-up for Macedonia. However, Jetmir Salihu, a representative for the Albanian Football Association, dismissed Bardhi's claim, unveiling all the text messages between him and the player, showing that Bardhi was never interested in playing for Albania in the first place. He also accused the player of trying to damage the image of the association with the aim to be seen as a hero to

Albanian people The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

, stating: "''Since 2010 I've had hundreds of such cases, footballers that have refused the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

and at the end they came out with such statements because they want to make FSHF guilty so they can win the sympathy of Albanians.''" Bardhi represented North Macedonia at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels before making his senior international debut on 27 March 2015, coming on as a first-half substitute for

Artim Položani Artim Položani or Pollozhani (; ; born 25 June 1982) is a Macedonian professional football coach and a former player of Albanian descent. He is currently the head coach of Flamurtari Vlorë. Club career Položani joined TuS Koblenz in the Germ ...

in a 2–1

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

home loss against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Bardhi was part of North Macedonia's

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

squad, starting in all three of their group stage games. In September 2023, he became the captain of the North Macedonia national football team.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bardhi goal''.

Honours

Újpest *

Szuperkupa The Hungarian Super Cup is an annual association football match between the League (Nemzeti Bajnokság I) champions and the Cup (Magyar Kupa) winners. Winners (*) due to violent incidents during the recent 1997–98 Magyar Kupa Final between ...

: 2014 Individual * Macedonian Footballer of the Year: 2017

References

External links

Profile at Macedonian Football

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bardhi, Enis 1995 births Bodrum F.K. footballers Living people Division 2 (Swedish football) players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers from Skopje KF Shkupi players KSF Prespa Birlik players La Liga players Levante UD footballers Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen Men's association football wingers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players North Macedonia men's international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's youth international footballers Süper Lig players Trabzonspor footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Újpest FC players Macedonian people of Kosovan descent Macedonian people of Albanian descent