Esmir Bajraktarević (; born 10 March 2005) 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 winger for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club PSV. Born in the United States, he plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Bajraktarević started his professional career at

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

, playing first in its

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, before joining PSV in 2025. A former American youth international, Bajraktarević also made his senior international debut for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, before switching his allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024.

Club career

New England Revolution

Bajraktarević started playing football at a local club SC Wave, before joining Chicago Fire's youth setup in 2019. The following year, he returned to SC Wave. A year later, he switched to New England Revolution's youth academy. In May 2022, he signed his first professional contract with the team. He made his professional debut playing for New England Revolution's reserve squad against Tormenta on 22 August 2021 at the age of 16. On 11 September, he scored his first professional goal against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Bajraktarević made his first-team debut in a U.S. Open Cup game against

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on 26 May 2022. Three months later, he made his league debut against

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. On 8 August 2023, he scored his first goal for New England Revolution in a

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

match against

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

. Ten months later, he scored his first league goal for the side in a triumph over

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

PSV

In January 2025, Bajraktarević was transferred to Dutch outfit PSV for an undisclosed fee. On 18 January, he made his official debut for the squad against

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. Bajraktarević debuted in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

away at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 12 March. He won his first trophy with the club on 18 May, when they were crowned league champions.

International career

After representing the

at various youth levels, Bajraktarević made his senior international debut in a friendly game against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

on 20 January 2024. However, in July, he decided that he would play for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the future. In August, his request to change sports citizenship from American to Bosnian was approved by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. Later that month, he received his first senior call up, for

2024–25 UEFA Nations League A The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A is the top division of the 2024–25 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. Lea ...

matches against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He debuted against the former on 7 September.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

PSV *

: 2024–25

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bajraktarevic, Esmir 2005 births Living people Sportspeople from Appleton, Wisconsin Soccer players from Wisconsin American people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent 21st-century American sportsmen American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Men's association football wingers Homegrown Players (MLS) New England Revolution II players New England Revolution players PSV Eindhoven players USL League One players MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in the United States Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands