Jurgen Vatnikaj (born 8 August 1995) is an Albanian former 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Early career

Vatnikaj joined his hometown club

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's home ground is the newly built sta ...

at the age of 10 in 2005 where he progressed through the club's youth teams before joining local rivals

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

in 2011, where he initially played for the club's under-17 side. After one season with the under-17s, he was promoted to the under-19s at Tirana but he left the club in January 2013 and returned to Partizani Tirana, where he also played for the club's under-19s side.

Partizani Tirana

He made his professional debut on the last day of the 2013–14 Albanian Superliga against Lushnja on 10 May 2014, where he came on as a 64th-minute substitute and scored the last goal of the game on the 89th minute in the 4–2 away win for Partizani Tirana. With the arrivals of

Sebino Plaku Sebino Plaku (born 20 May 1985) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Plaku joined the Partizani academy as a teenager and was eventually promoted to the first team ahead of the 2003� ...

Xhevahir Sukaj Xhevahir Sukaj (born 5 October 1987) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has played for Vllaznia Shkodër and Elbasani in Albania, Hacettepe and Orduspor in Turkey, Ismaily in Egypt, NK Zagreb in Croati ...

and Emanuele Morini, Vatnikaj found his chances limited at Partizani so he joined newly promoted

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

side Tërbuni Pukë on loan ahead of the 2015–16 season.

Bylis Ballsh

On 11 September 2017, Vatnikaj officially joined

Albanian First Division 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 ...

side

Bylis Ballsh Klubi i Futbollit Bylis is an Albanian professional football club based in Ballsh, part of Mallakastër municipality. They compete in the Abissnet Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Adush Muça Stadium. His ...

by penning a one-year contract. He was presented along with his brother Junild. He made his debut five days later in the opening match of 2017–18 Albanian First Division against

Shkumbini Peqin Klubi i Futbollit Shkumbini Peqin is an Albanian football club based in the town of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in t ...

, finished in a 2–0 away win. He scored his first goal of 2017–18 season on 25 November in the matchday 9 against

Apolonia Fier Futboll Klub Apolonia Fier is an Albanian football club based in Fier. The club was founded on 17 June 1925 and took its name from the nearby ruins of the ancient city of Apollonia. The club currently competes in Kategoria e Parë, the secon ...

as Bylis was defeated 3–1.

Kastrioti Krujë

In the deadline day of winter transfer window, Vatnikaj become a player of fellow First Division side

Kastrioti Krujë Klubi Sportiv Kastrioti is an Albanian football club based in the city of Krujë. The club's home ground used to be the Kastrioti Stadium, but after the stadium got closed and demolished, Kastrioti decided to move to the Kamëz Stadium in Kamëz, ...

for an undisclosed fee. He played his first match for the club later on 10 March 2018 by entering in the final minutes of a goalless draw versus Besëlidhja Lezhë. He opened his scoring account on 21 April in the 1–1 draw at

Dinamo Tirana Football Club Dinamo City, commonly referred to as Dinamo City and colloquially known as Dinamo, is an Albanian professional football club based out of Tirana. They compete in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Founded i ...

. Kastrioti eventually finished top in the Group A, meaning that they have secured a top flight spot for the next season. In the final versus the Group B winner

, Vatnikaj entered in the last 14 minutes as Kastrioti lost 2–0 at

Elbasan Arena Elbasan Arena (, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction and was official ...

International career

Under-15

Vatnikaj's youth international career begun with the under-15 squad under

Sulejman Demollari Sulejman Demollari (born 15 May 1964 in Tirana) also known as Sul Demollari is an Albanian former football player and coach. Playing career Early life Demollari was born in Albania's capital Tirana, where he completed his primary education. He ...

in 2009, where he played in the qualifying games of

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

. He played two times and scored once, the opener in the 2–0 win over Liechtenstein on 17 October.

Under-17

Later in 2011 he was promoted to under-17 side, being called up by manager

Džemal Mustedanagić Džemal Mustedanagić (born 8 June 1955) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian retired footballer and current manager of the Albania national under-16 football team. Playing career Club Born in Bosanski Novi, his playing career started in FK Sloboda Bosan ...

for the qualifying games of

2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eleventh edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship under its current age grouping. Slovenia hosted the tournament between 4 and 16 May. An appeal by the Hungarian Football Feder ...

in October. He made his first appearance for the team in the opening qualifying match versus

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, coming on as a late replacement for Frans Ymeralilaj, who had given Albania the win thanks to his brace. He went on to play another against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

which ended in a 1–1; this result secured Albania a place in the elite round of the European Championship for the first time in 9 seasons. In the elite round, Vatnikaj continued to be a substitute, appearing only in the last minutes as Albania was eliminated after finished 3rd in

Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: * Group 5 element, chemical element classification * Group 5 (motorsport), FIA classification for cars in auto racing See also * G5 (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

Under-19

Albania U19 – Vatnikaj was part of national team in two matches against Moldavia.

Under-21

In November 2014, Vatnikaj participated with Albania U21 in the friendly tournament held in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. He scored in the first match against Bahrain that was won by Albania 3–2. Later in March 2015, Vatnikaj was called up again for the opening 2017 UEFA U21 Championship qualifier against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

on 28 March 2015. He was given the number 11 shirt and started the match partnering

Rey Manaj Rey Aldo Manaj (; born 24 February 1997) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Sivasspor and the Albania national team. Club career Early career Manaj was born in Lushnjë, Albania in 1997, and move ...

in attack. He played only in the first half as the 2–0 away victory saw Albania off to a winning start.

Personal life

His brother Junild is also a professional footballer who plays at Bylis Ballsh.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatnikaj, Jurgen 1995 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers FK Partizani Tirana players KF Tërbuni Pukë players KF Bylis players KS Kastrioti players Flamurtari FC players Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Parë players 21st-century Albanian sportsmen