Frédéric Shtjefan Veseli ( sq, Frederik Shtjefan Veseli; born 20 November 1992), also known as Freddie Veseli, is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for club

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the ...

and the Albania national team. His main position is centre back but he can also play at right-back and left-back. Born in Renens, Switzerland to Albanian parents, Veseli began his youth career with local club FC Renens before joining

Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

in 2005. In 2008, he was signed by English club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, before joining

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in January 2012. Having failed to break into the first team, he was released in July 2013 and joined Ipswich Town, who allowed him to go on loan to Bury in the second half of the 2013–14 season. He was loaned out to Port Vale for the first half of the 2014–15 season, before joining permanently in January 2015. He returned to Switzerland in July 2015 and joined Lugano, and featured on the losing side in the 2016

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

final before he signed with Italian side

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

in August 2016. He served Empoli as vice-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

as the club secured promotion as champions of Serie B in the 2017–18 campaign. He joined French club

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

on loan in January 2020 and then signed with Salernitana eight months later. He helped Salernitana to win promotion out of Serie B at the end of the 2020–21 season. He signed with

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

in August 2022 and moved on to Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük 12 months later. He represented Switzerland at every level of youth football, and captained the Switzerland under-17s to victory in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

FIFA U-17 World Cup. After refusing call-ups from Kosovo, in November 2015 he accepted the Albania national team's invitation to continue his international career, and was named in the squad for UEFA Euro 2016.

Early and personal life

Veseli was born in Switzerland to Albanian parents from Kosovo and speaks fluent English,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 ...

and Italian. His father settled the family in Lausanne and worked in construction before joining a multi-national company that made plastic packaging. Veseli achieved the top grades in his school's region at the age of 15. In 2022, he was living with his partner, an accountant from Switzerland.

Club career

Early career

Veseli started his football career with Renens. In 2005, he joined

, where he remained until 2008, when he moved to England to join

's Elite Development Squad. He would spend the next four seasons playing primarily for the reserve team. During the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, manager Roberto Mancini named Veseli in the first team squad for the League Cup Third round match against West Bromwich Albion on 22 September, where he was an unused substitute for the entire game. Mancini promised to give him his Premier League debut on the final day of the

season, but Veseli tore his hamstring and was unable to play. Prior to the 2011–12 season, Veseli featured prominently at the 2011 World Football Challenge but did not make any first-team appearance that year. He demanded a contract of £5,000-a-week, which City refused to give, and he was approached by René Meulensteen, a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

under

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

at City's local rivals

Brian Marwood Brian Marwood (born 5 February 1960) is an English former footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League and was capped once for England. He is City Football Group’s Managing Director of Global Football. Club career H ...

had wanted to demonstrate to the City players that the City Football Group could not be forced into offering more generous terms than they were willing to give. On 31 January 2012, the last day of the 2012 winter transfer window, Veseli joined Manchester United on a free transfer. However, he failed to break into the first-team at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

and Manchester United released Veseli at the end of his contract in July 2013.

Ipswich Town

In July 2013, Veseli was signed by Mick McCarthy's Championship club Ipswich Town on a two-year deal. On 6 August, Veseli made his professional debut in a 2–0 League Cup defeat by

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

at Broadhall Way. However, he was unsuited to McCarthy's long ball style of play. On 31 December 2013, Veseli had signed a one-month loan deal for struggling League Two side Bury. His loan spell at Gigg Lane was later extended by a further month before finally being extended to the full 93-day period. He started 18 league games for the club and was influential in their rise from 20th in the table and fighting relegation up to 11th, when he left, after new manager

David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the director of football at club Port Vale. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry ...

decided to include Veseli in a back three alongside Pablo Mills and Jimmy McNulty. In his 18 appearances the "Shakers" kept ten clean sheets.

Port Vale

In July 2014, Veseli signed on loan for League One side Port Vale for the first half of the 2014–15 season, with manager Micky Adams intending him to provide first team competition for right-back

Adam Yates Adam Richard Yates (born 7 August 1992) is a British road and track racing cyclist who currently rides for . He placed fourth overall at the 2016 Tour de France and became the first British rider to win the young rider classification, one year ...

. He missed two weeks after breaking his ribs in September. He returned to the starting eleven at centre back on 15 November, helping the "Valiants" to a 1–0 win over Rochdale at Vale Park. He was picked out as the star player in the following week's 1–0 defeat to Milton Keynes Dons. He joined Port Vale on a permanent basis on 7 January 2015, after being released by Ipswich. On 21 February, he scored his first goal in professional football with a speculative effort from in a 3–0 home win over Doncaster Rovers. The goal helped him to be named in the English Football League team of the week. He was offered a new contract of £1,000-a-week, but turned it down.

Lugano

In July 2015, Veseli rejected a contract offer from Port Vale and instead signed a 12-month deal with

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

side Lugano following a successful two week trial. He played 33 of the club's 36 league games in the 2015–16 season, as Lugano avoided relegation by finishing just one point above bottom club

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

. Lugano also reached the final of the

Letzigrund is a stadium in Zürich, Switzerland, and the home of the athletics club LC Zürich, and the football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich. LC Zürich is a spin-off of FC Zürich whose members constructed the stadium in 1925. Grasshopper ...

, where Veseli was sent off in stoppage time after receiving two yellow cards in a 1–0 defeat to Zürich. He rejected the club's contract offer of 7,000-

Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

s-a-month and the club unsuccessfully sued him, which prevented him from playing professional football until October 2016.

Empoli

Vesli signed a two-year contract with Serie A club

in August 2016. He played 17 games for the "Azzurri", but was an unused substitute on the last day of the 2016–17 as Empoli were relegated with a 2–1 defeat at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. Following the club's relegation, Veseli was one of only three survivors of a cull to the playing squad, and was named as a vice-captain. On 25 August 2017, he renewed his contract with Empoli until 30 June 2021. He made 30 appearances across the 2017–18 campaign as Empoli made an immediate return to the top-flight a champions of Serie B under the stewardship of

Aurelio Andreazzoli Aurelio Andreazzoli (born 5 November 1953) is an Italian football coach. He is currently the head coach of club Ternana. Career In 2005, Andreazzoli joined Roma to become head coach Luciano Spalletti's assistant coach, becoming a valuable part ...

. He then featured 31 times in Serie A during the 2018–19 campaign as Empoli were relegated on the final day of the season. On 31 January 2020, he joined French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

club

on loan. The

2019–20 Ligue 2 The 2019–20 Ligue 2 (referred to as the Domino's Pizza, Domino's Ligue 2 for sponsorship reasons) season was the 81st season since its establishment. The season was suspended indefinitely on 12 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28 Ap ...

season was suspended indefinitely on 12 March and was eventually abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. Th ...

Salernitana

On 26 August 2020, he signed a two-year contract with Serie B club Salernitana. He played 23 league games in the

2020–21 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 ...

season, scoring one goal, as Fabrizio Castori's Salernitana secured promotion into Serie A with a second-place finish in Serie B. However, it was a difficult season on a personal level as he injured his

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

, his calf, fractured his ankle and contracted COVID-19 over the course of the campaign. He played nine games during as Salernitana managed to avoid relegation in the 2021–22 season, with all but one of his appearances coming under

Stefano Colantuono Stefano Colantuono (born 23 October 1962) is an Italian football professional football manager and former player, who played as a defender, currently in charge as youth system chief of Salernitana. Playing career Colantuono, a centre back, sta ...

, who succeeded Castori as head coach in October only to be replaced by Davide Nicola in February.

Benevento

On 27 August 2022, Veseli moved to

in Serie B. He featured 21 times in the

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 b ...

campaign as Benevento were relegated in last place.

Fatih Karagümrük

On 23 July 2023, Veseli joined Turkish Süper Lig club

on a two-year deal.

International career

In May 2009, Veseli reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, which was held in Germany. In October 2009, he competed in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was held in Nigeria, playing in six matches and eventually winning the competition as captain with a 1–0 victory over the hosts at the

Abuja Stadium Moshood Abiola National Stadium (formerly known as National Stadium, Abuja) is a multipurpose national sports stadium located in Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. The stadium serves as a home to the Nigerian national football t ...

. Although he has Swiss citizenship, Veseli declared to the media that he would welcome a call-up from Albania, given his Albanian ethnicity. He had also been contacted several times by Kosovo coach

Albert Bunjaki Albert Bunjaki (born 18 June 1971) is a Kosovan professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of IF Karlstad. Managerial career Kosovo On 18 July 2009, Bunjaki was appointed as the manager of the Kosovo after the forme ...

, but refused to commit himself to Kosovo.

Albania

On 7 November 2015, Veseli received his first call up to Albania by coach Gianni De Biasi for the friendly matches against Kosovo and Georgia on 13 and 16 November 2015. He made his first appearance against Kosovo as a substitute in the 63rd minute for Berat Djimsiti.

Euro 2016

On 21 May 2016, Veseli was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May. He appeared as an 86th-minute substitute against hosts France in Albania's second group game, which ended in a 2–0 defeat. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

–2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.

Style of play

Speaking in July 2014, Port Vale manager Micky Adams stated that Veseli was "quick, he can handle the ball and he's got decent pedigree".

Career statistics

Club

International

Freddie Veseli
at EU-Football.info

Honours

Lugano *

runner-up: 2015–16 Empoli * Serie B: 2017–18 Salernitana * Serie B second-place promotion:

Switzerland U17 * FIFA U-17 World Cup:

References

External links