Rijad Sadiku (; born 18 January 2000) is a Bosnian 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

centre-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 ...

for

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

Club career

Sarajevo

Sadiku is a product of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

's youth academy. On 28 May 2017, he was named as a Sarajevo substitute for the first time in a

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

match against Krupa, but was an unused substitute in that match.

Mouscron

On 30 January 2018, Sadiku joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

side

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch language, Dutch and , ; Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian Hainaut Provinc ...

after agreeing to a four-year deal. On 5 May 2019, he made his debut as a professional footballer in a 3–0 home win against Zulte Waregem after being named in the starting line-up.

Mladost Doboj Kakanj

On 21 January 2020, Sadiku joined Mladost Doboj Kakanj after agreeing to a one-and-a-half-year deal. Two days later, he made his debut in a 0–0 away draw against Sloboda Tuzla after being named in the starting line-up.

Zrinjski Mostar

On 5 August 2020, Sadiku left Mladot Doboj Kakanj and joined

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) ** ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *H ...

, signing a three-year contract. He made his official debut for Zrinjski on 12 September 2020, in a league match against his former club Mladost Doboj Kakanj. Sadiku terminated his contract and left the club on 26 January 2021.

Return to Mladost Doboj Kakanj

In February 2021, Sadiku returned to Mladot Doboj Kakanj. He left the club only four months later in June.

International career

Sadiku represented Bosnia and Herzegovina on all youth levels, he also served as

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

of the national under-17 team and is the most capped player in the history of the national under-17 team with 26

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

Personal life

Sadiku was born in

, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Kosovan parents from the village Radeše of

Dragaš Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri;'' sr-cyr, Драгаш) is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the municipality has 34,827 inhabitants. The Albanian name ''Shar ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Rijad Sadiku
at

FC Botoșani Asociația Fotbal Club Botoșani (), commonly known as FC Botoșani or simply Botoșani, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Botoșani, Botoșani County, that competes in the Liga I. In 2013, twelve years after being ...