Albion Ademi

Albion Ademi

Ademi with Inter Turku in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	(1999-02-19) 19 February 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth	Pristina, FR Yugoslavia [1] [2]
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) [1]
Position(s)	Winger [1]
Team information
Current team	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger
Number	7
Youth career
	TPS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015	TPS	10	(2)
2016–2019	Inter Turku	41	(5)
2016	→ EIF (loan)	2	(0)
2017	→ EIF (loan)	2	(0)
2017	→ PS Kemi (loan)	14	(2)
2020	IFK Mariehamn	22	(14)
2021–2023	Djurgården	11	(0)
2022	→ Lahti (loan)	14	(0)
2023	→ IFK Värnamo (loan)	27	(3)
2024	IFK Värnamo	0	(0)
2024–	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	29	(9)
International career
2015–2016	Finland U17	5	(0)
2016	Finland U18	2	(0)
2017–2018	Finland U19	11	(0)
2018–2020	Albania U21	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 October 2024

Albion Ademi (born 19 February 1999) is a professional footballer who plays for Chinese Super League club Tianjin Jinmen Tiger as a winger. Ademi has represented both Finland and Albania at youth international level.

Club career

Ademi spent his early career with TPS, Inter Turku, EIF and PS Kemi, playing in the second-tier Ykkönen and first-tier Veikkausliiga. ^[3]

On 30 December 2019, Ademi signed a one-year contract with IFK Mariehamn. ^[4]

He moved to Swedish club Djurgården on a four-year deal in January 2021, for a transfer fee of around €200,000 plus bonuses. ^[5] On 25 March 2022, Ademi returned to Veikkausliiga and joined FC Lahti on loan until mid-July 2022. ^{[6] [7]} After spending the 2023 season on loan in IFK Värnamo, the club announced his permanent transfer to Värnamo on a deal until 2026, starting in 2024, ^[8] for a fee of kr800,000, which is roughly around €70,000. ^{[9] [10]}

However, on 14 February 2024, Ademi signed with Chinese Super League club Tianjin Jinmen Tiger from IFK Värnamo. The transfer fee was announced to be kr5.5 million, which corresponds to around €500,000, ^[11] which is the highest incoming fee in IFK Värnamo's history. ^[12] On 2 March 2024, Ademi debuted in the league with his new club, scoring the only goal for his side, in a 1–1 draw against Nantong Zhiyun. ^[13]

International career

Ademi represented Finland at under-17 and under-19 youth levels. ^[3] With the under-19 squad, he played two games at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, which Finland hosted. ^[14]

On 31 August 2018, Ademi received a call-up from the Albania U21 national team for a friendly match against Italy U21 ^[15] and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up. ^[16]

On 5 October 2018, Ademi received a call-up from Albania U21 for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Spain U21 and Estonia U21. ^[17] He joined up with the team however was unable to play due to him having to wait for FIFA's permission. ^[18]

In November 2018, he received his first call-up to the senior Albania national football team for UEFA Nations League game against Scotland and a friendly against Wales, but remained on the bench in both games. ^{[19] [20]}

Personal life

Ademi was born in Kosovo, ^[21] but relocated to Finland with his family due to Kosovo War in 1999, when he was a few months old. He was raised in Runosmäki neighbourhood of Turku. ^{[22] [23] [24] [25]}

Career statistics

As of 28 October 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TPS	2015	Ykkönen	10	2	1	0	—		11	2
Inter Turku	2016	Veikkausliiga	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2017	Veikkausliiga	3	0	5	2	—		8	2
	2018	Veikkausliiga	25	4	6	6	—		31	10
	2019	Veikkausliiga	11	1	0	0	1 [b]	0	12	1
	Total		41	5	11	8	1	0	53	13
EIF (loan)	2016	Ykkönen	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2017	Ykkönen	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
PS Kemi (loan)	2017	Veikkausliiga	14	2	0	0	—		14	2
IFK Mariehamn	2020	Veikkausliiga	22	14	4	0	—		26	14
Djurgården	2021	Allsvenskan	8	0	5	0	—		13	0
	2022	Allsvenskan	3	0	2	0	2 [c]	0	7	0
	Total		11	0	7	0	2	0	20	0
Lahti (loan)	2022	Veikkausliiga	14	0	4	1	—		18	1
IFK Värnamo (loan)	2023	Allsvenskan	27	3	1	1	—		28	4
IFK Värnamo	2024	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	2024	Chinese Super League	29	9	2	0	—		31	9
Career total			172	35	30	10	3	0	205	45

1. Includes Suomen Cup and Svenska Cupen
2. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2020 ^[26]
• Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: August 2020 ^[27]

References

1. Albion Ademi at WorldFootball.net
2. Albion Ademi at BeSoccer
3. Albion Ademi at Soccerway. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
4. Albion Ademi sopimukseen - IFK Mariehamn vahvistaa hyökkäystään, veikkausliiga.com, 30 December 2019
5. "Avslöjar: Succéspelaren klar för Djurgården". 21 January 2021.
6. "Albion Ademi lainalle FC Lahteen" (Press release) (in Finnish). Lahti. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
7. Djurgården trodde inte på Ademi-affär: " Tax-freen på Ålandsfärjan gjorde det möjligt", fotbollskanalen.se, 8 November 2023
8. Albion Ademi köps loss från Djurgårdens IF, ifkvarnamo.se, 8 November 2023
9. Allsvenska kulisserna: Därför kan Rasmus Schüller lämna Djurgården, expressen.se, 5 January 2024
10. Allsvenska toppklubbar jagar Albion Ademi?, fotbolltransfers.com, 5 January 2024
11. TACK FÖR ALLT ALBION ADEMI!, ifkvarnamo.se, 14 February 2024
12. Officiellt! IFK Värnamo säljer Ademi, fotbollskanalen.se, 14 February 2024
13. TIANJIN JINMEN TIGER VS. NANTONG ZHIYUN 1 - 1, soccerway
14. "Finland U19 v Italy U19 game report". UEFA. 16 July 2019.
15. "Trajneri Bushi: Skuadra e kompletuar karshi Spanjës duhet të tregojmë shumë kujdes!" [Coach Bushi: The complete squad against Spain we must be very careful!] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
16. "U21/Shqipëria humbet miqësoren në Itali" [U21/Albania loses the friendly in Italy] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
17. "Kombëtarja U-21/Trajneri Alban Bushi shpall listën e lojtarëve për ndeshjet zyrtare me Spanjën dhe Estoninë" [National U21 team/Coach Alban Bushi announces the list of players for official matches with Spain and Estonia] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
18. "Panuçi nuk e aktivizoi, talenti Vrioni rikthehet te Shpresat. Një "armë" më shumë ndaj Spanjës" [Panucci didn't activate him, talent Vrioni returns to the Hopes". A "weapon" more versus Spain] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018. Vrioni mund të jetë zgjidhje ideale për startin e ndeshjes për të besuarit e Bushit, duke qenë se Albion Ademi është në pritje të lejekalimit nga FIFA, dhe për momentin nuk e ka marrë ende
19. "Albania v Scotland game report". ESPN. 17 November 2018.
20. "Albania v Wales game report". ESPN. 20 November 2018.
21. Saarelta taas kohti maalikuninkuutta – Albion Ademin hurja maalivire on herättänyt kiinnostusta siirtomarkkinoilla, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, 16 September 2020
22. Kosovon sotaa paennut Albion Ademi on yksi Suomen lupaavimmista jalkapalloilijoista – U19-maajoukkueen runkopelaaja ei malta odottaa EM-kotikisojen alkamista, Yle, 14 July 2018
23. He shone in the Finnish Superliga with his goals - Albion Ademi is wanted by five popular clubs, telegrafi.com,
24. "Jälkipeli: Albion Ademi - kotimainen jalkapallo kaipaa väriläiskiä". Aamuset (in Finnish). 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020.
25. Veikkausliigan alkukauden komeetta on yllättänyt tehoillaan itsensäkin – Albion Ademi löysi vastuuta Ahvenanmaalta ja sai kutsun maajoukkuepaitaan, Yle, 26 August 2020
26. "Pallo-Koplan Veikkausliigan tähdistöjoukkue on valittu". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
27. Albion Ademi Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja, JPY, 7 September 2020