Ezgjan Alioski (; born 12 February 1992) 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 a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

and the North Macedonia national team. He is commonly known as 'Gjanni'. A versatile left-footed player, Alioski can play as a striker,

defensive 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. ...

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. ...

right winger 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. ...

left wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Alioski was dubbed by

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

supporters as their own “

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”, for his high level of pace and stamina.

Club career

Early career

Having joined their youth academy in 2003, Alioski began his career as a

in the second team of Young Boys from 2010 to 2013, where he scored four goals in 57 matches. In January 2013, he went to

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

on loan, before joining on a permanent transfer in October 2013, scoring four goals in 77 matches.

Lugano

He joined

on loan in January 2016, and made his debut on 13 February in a 2–1 loss against

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

. Despite signing him as a left back, then Lugano manager

Zdeněk Zeman Zdeněk Zeman (; born 12 May 1947) is a Czech-Italian football manager. Known for his exciting, offensive footballing tactics and use of the 4–3–3 formation, Zeman has managed numerous teams over the years, mostly in Italian football. He ...

converted Alioski into an attacking

and striker towards the end of the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 11 May 2016 in a 4–0 win to

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In June 2016, his move was made permanent. New manager

Andrea Manzo Andrea Manzo (born 5 November 1961) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Career Playing Manzo started his professional career in 1978 with Padova. He then played for a number of Serie A and Serie B teams, most notably Fiorentin ...

continued to play Alioski in the attacking roles once the season started. He scored his first goal of the campaign in his second game on 30 July 2016, in a 2–1 win over Young Boys. He scored seven goals in his first ten games at the club. On 9 April 2017, Alioski scored a hat-trick for Lugano in a 4–2 victory against

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

. He continued to impress during his first season and helped guide Lugano to a third-place finish in the

. He scored 16 goals in 34 games for Lugano and was the third top goalscorer in the league in the 2016–17 season, behind

Seydou Doumbia Seydou Doumbia (; born 31 December 1987) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After beginning his career in the Ivory Coast and Japan, he arrived in Europe in 2008 to play for Swiss club Young Boys, where he wa ...

(20) and

Guillaume Hoarau Guillaume Hoarau (born 5 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Early career Hoarau started his football career at JS Saint-Pierroise in his native Réunion. In 1995, Le Havre AC scouts co ...

(18). He was also the third highest in the division in terms of his assists, after making 14 in his 34 games, behind

Yoric Ravet Yoric Ravet (born 12 September 1989) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for FC Allobroges Asafia. Club career Since childhood, Ravet was with Grenoble Foot 38, Grenoble ...

(17) and

Matteo Tosetti Matteo Tosetti (born 15 February 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays for Locarno. Club career Tosetti began his playing career with hometown club Losone Sportiva until a move to FC Locarno in 2005. There he rose through the youth ...

(15).

Leeds United

Alioski was a part of

's return to the Premier League in 2019–20 after a sixteen-year wait, notwithstanding three seasons played in the second tier of English football. He scored important goals in the 2019–20 season.

2017–18 season

Alioski joined English club Leeds United on 13 July 2017. On 6 August 2017, he made his debut in a 3–2 victory against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and created the assist for teammate Chris Wood's goal. After gaining another assist, he received the man of the match award over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in a 2–0 win on 19 August. On 26 August, Alioski received the man of the match award and scored his first goal for Leeds in a 2–0 victory against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. On 15 September, Alioski won the Championship Goal of the Month Award for August for his goal against Nottingham Forest. In November 2017, Alioski scored in all of Leeds United's four games, and was awarded with the club's award for Player of the Month. On 16 April 2018, Alioski was nominated as one of four players for Leeds United's Player of The Year award. On 21 April, Alioski scored the winner with his seventh goal of the season in a 2–1 victory for Leeds in the Yorkshire derby against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. He ended the season with seven goals and five assists. On 5 May, Alioski won the Goal of the Season award for his strike over Nottingham Forest at Leeds' annual award ceremony.

2018–19 season

He scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season with a goal on 11 August in a 4–1 victory of

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. Alioski started the season for Leeds as a winger playing on the right or left side, but after an injury to regular left-back

Barry Douglas Barry James Douglas (born 4 September 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone. After playing for Queen's Park and Dundee United in Scotland, he joined Polish club Lech Po ...

in 2019, Alioski was praised for his form playing at left-back, with his form keeping a returning Douglas out of the side. He continued to thrive in this wing-back position throughout 2019, producing marauding runs up the left flank and scoring against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, Bolton Wanderers and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

to bring his Championship tally for 2018–19 to seven, until, on 22 April, in Leeds' 2–0 defeat at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, Alioski was substituted after twelve minutes with a torn

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

and missed the remainder of the season, including play-offs. During the 2018–19 season, Alioski played 47 games in all competitions, netting seven goals, after Leeds finished the regular season in third place after dropping out of the automatic promotion places with three games left following a loss to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

on 19 April. Leeds United qualified for the play-offs versus sixth-placed Derby County, with Alioski's season already ended by injury. Leeds won the first leg of the play-offs in a 1–0 win at

Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the southern outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. It covers 80 hectares of contaminated former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines, and was developed between the 1990s and ear ...

to bring into a 1–0 aggregate lead into the home leg at Elland Road. However, they lost the second leg 2–4, with

Gaetano Berardi Gaetano Michel Berardi (born 21 August 1988) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a right-back, left-back or centre-back. He also played one match for the Switzerland national team. Club career Brescia Born in Sorengo, Berard ...

being sent off. This setback resulted in Leeds losing 4–3 on aggregate.

2019–20 season

On 24 August, Alioski scored his first goal of the 2019–20 season in a 3–0 win over Stoke City. After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the season was resumed during June, where Alioski earned promotion with Leeds to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and also become the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

winners for the 2019–20 season in July following a successful resumption of the season. Alioski played an important part in the promotion, scoring important goals and changing games.

2020–21 season

Alioski played his first Premier League game on 19 September 2020, when he came on as a 70th-minute substitute for

Patrick Bamford Patrick James Bamford (born 5 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Leeds United. He made one appearance for the England national team in 2021. Bamford began his career at Nottingham Forest, maki ...

in the team's 4–3 home win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. Three days earlier, Alioski had been in the starting line-up, scoring the only goal — in added time — in Leeds's 1–1 League Cup second round tie with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

(Hull went on to win 9–8 on penalties with Alioski missing his spot kick). He made his first Premier League start on 5 October 2020 against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, coming into the first eleven in place of Jack Harrison, who was ineligible to play against his parent club. On 16 December 2020, he scored his first Premier League goal in the 5–2 home win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. Alioski scored his final goal of 2020 in a 5–0 away win over

. Nearing the end of the 2020-21 season, Alioski was offered a new contract by Leeds, but were unable to make an agreement to sign a new contract, thus ending Alioski's 4 year spell with Leeds.

Al-Ahli

On 29 July 2021, Alioski signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.

Loan to Fenerbahçe

On 2 August 2022, he signed for

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 Fenerbahçe on loan for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. Alioski won the 2023 Turkish Cup with Fenerbahçe, beating

İstanbul Başakşehir Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

2-0 in the final.

International career

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 ...

and

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 ...

due to his

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

heritage, Alioski decided to represent the country of his birth, Macedonia. After representing Macedonia at various youth levels, he made his debut for the senior side in 2013. He scored his first international goal against Albania on 5 September 2016 in a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

match. He mainly played for his national side in a

position, before being converted to a more attacking midfield position. On 6 September 2018, Alioski scored in a 2–0 win over

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

. He scored in his country's next game on 9 September in a 2–0 UEFA Nations League win against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. In May 2021, Alioski was selected in the final 26-man squad to represent North Macedonia at the postponed

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 ...

, marking the country's first appearance at a major tournament. During North Macedonia's opening fixture of the tournament against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, immediately after striker

Marko Arnautović Marko Arnautović ( sr-cyr, Марко Арнаутовић; born 19 April 1989) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Austria national team. Arnautović began his career in his nati ...

(who is half-

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

) scored, Arnautović angrily shouted towards Alioski and teammate Egzon Bejtulai–both of Albanian descent–what were believed to be anti-Albanian slurs.

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 ...

released a statement calling for action by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

. On June 17, 2021, he scored a goal against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, a rebound goal off a saved penalty taken by Alioski.

Personal life

Alioski is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and is of ethnic Albanian origin from

Crnilište Crnilište (, ) is a village in the municipality of Dolneni, North Macedonia. Demographics Crnilište appears in 15th century Ottoman defters as a village in the nahiyah of Köprülü. Among its inhabitants, a certain ''Dimitri Arnaud'' is reco ...

. He is a multilingual person who can speak Albanian, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Macedonian and Spanish fluently. He has citizenships of North Macedonia and Switzerland.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 6 June 2025. North Macedonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Alioski goal.''

Honours

Leeds United *

: 2019–20 Fenerbahçe *

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 ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Al-Ahli *

AFC Champions League Elite The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

: 2024–25 Individual *

Team of the Year: 2016–17 *EFL Championship Goal of the Month: August 2017 *

Goal of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links

*
Ezgjan Alioski
at Macedonianfootball.com
Ezgjan Alioski
at

ESPN FC ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as Soc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alioski, Ezgjan 1992 births Living people Footballers from Prilep Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen Men's association football fullbacks BSC Young Boys players FC Schaffhausen players FC Lugano players Leeds United F.C. players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Swiss Challenge League players English Football League players Premier League players Saudi Pro League players Süper Lig players North Macedonia men's youth international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in England Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Macedonian people of Albanian descent AFC Champions League Elite–winning players