Leon Avdullahu (born 23 February 2004) is a Swiss 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

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 German club

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

Club career

Born in

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

, Avdullahu started his youth football with local club FC Gerlafingen and then moved to

in 2013. In the summer of 2018, he moved to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

's youth department and in 2022 he advanced to their U-21 team, but remained part of the U-18 team that celebrated winning the Swiss championship at the end of June 2023. In July 2023 he signed his first professional contract and advanced to their first team for their 2023–24 season. After playing in three test games Avdullahu played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

on 13 August 2023 as Basel were defeated 2–1 by

Lausanne-Sport Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League Season. The ...

. In the 2023–24 Swiss Cup second round match, on 16 September, Avdullahu scored his first goal for the team as Basel went on to win 8–0 against amateur club FC Bosporus in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. As

Fabio Celestini Fabio Celestini (born 31 October 1975) is a Swiss football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Swiss Super League club FC Basel. A defensive midfielder, he started and finished his 15-year professional career with Laus ...

became FCB head-coach, Avdullahu became a regular starter. He scored his first league goal for the team on 30 March 2024 in the home game in the

as Basel played a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

. At the end of the

2024–25 Swiss Super League The 2024–25 Swiss Super League (referred to as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsoring reasons) is the 128th season of Swiss Super League, top-tier competitive Association football, football in Switzerland and the 22nd under its current ...

season he became Swiss champion and Cup winner with them. On 12 June FC Basel 1893 announced that their former youth player Avdullahu was moving to

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional association football, football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into bei ...

in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. During his two seasons with FCB's first team, Avdullahu played a total of 71 games for them scoring a total of three goals. 63 of these games were in the

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 ...

and 8 in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

. He scored two goals in the domestic league and the other in the cup. On 12 June 2025, German

side

announced the signing of Avdullahu on a long-term contract.

International career

Born in Switzerland, Avdullahu is of Kosovan descent. He has been a Swiss youth international at various levels. On 15 November 2023 he was called up into the Switzerland U-21 squad, however, remained both matches on the bench as unused substitute. On 22 June 2025 the Kosovo national team had shown interest in him following a meeting between

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...

president

Agim Ademi Agim Ademi (born 19 October 1961) is a Kosovan football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Football Federation of Kosovo from 6 July 2018. Life and career Agim Ademi was born on 19 October 1961 into an Albanian f ...

and Leon Avdullahu.

Honours

Basel * Swiss championship at U-18 level: 2023 *

: 2024–25 *

: 2024–25

References

External links

Leon Avdullahu at FCB.ch

Leon Avdullahu at SFV.ch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avdullahu, Leon 2004 births Footballers from Solothurn Living people Swiss people of Kosovan descent 21st-century Swiss sportsmen Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Basel players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Swiss Super League players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany