Lindon Selahi

Lindon Selahi

Personal information
Full name	Lindon Selahi
Date of birth	(1999-02-26) 26 February 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Namur, Belgium
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Rijeka
Number	18
Youth career
2004–2005	CAPS Namur
2005–2006	Sportive Jamboise
2006–2011	UR Namur
2011–2014	Standard Liège
2014–2016	Anderlecht
2016–2018	Standard Liège
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2019	Standard Liège	1	(0)
2019–2021	Twente	32	(2)
2021	→ Willem II (loan)	16	(0)
2021–	Rijeka	106	(8)
International career‡
2014	Belgium U16	2	(0)
2015	Albania U17	5	(0)
2018–2019	Albania U21	6	(0)
2019–	Albania	4	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:11, 15 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 October 2019

Lindon Selahi (born 26 February 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for HNK Rijeka. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Albania national team.

Early life

Selahi was born in Namur, Belgium to an Albanian family from North Macedonia. He started playing football at the age of 4 with local clubs.

Club career

Youth career

Selahi started his football career in local clubs, he joined UR Namur which played in the second division at this time, he regularly played with older boys and was captain of his teams. He was noticed by Standard Liège staff and joined the club in 2011. He left the Walloon club to join RSC Anderlecht, then he joined Standard Liège again in 2016. During his youth career at Standard Liège and Anderlecht, Selahi has played with many players of the talented 99-born generation, many of them became professional football players in and outside Belgium.

Standard Liège

In June 2016, Selahi signed his first professional contract with Standard Liège. ^[1] Selahi made his professional debut for Standard Liège in a 3-1 Belgian First Division A win over Anderlecht on 10 May 2018. ^[2]

Twente

On 6 June 2019, Selahi signed a two-year contract with an option of further one with the Dutch club FC Twente. ^[3] He made his official debut in a league game against PSV Eindhoven and scored his first Eredivisie goal on 25 October 2019 against FC Emmen. ^[4]

Loan to Willem II Tilburg

On January 15, 2021, Selahi moved to Dutch club Willem II Tilburg, on loan until the end of the season. ^[5]

HNK Rijeka

On July 24, 2021, Selahi signed a 3 years contract for HNK Rijeka, he arrived as a free agent. ^[6]

International career

Lindon Selahi was born in Belgium, his family is of Albanian descent from North Macedonia, his grandparents left Kumanovo in the late 1950s then moved to Belgium in the 1960s. Selahi's family still lives in Belgium today but is attached to the Albanian homeland, all of them speak perfect Albanian. Selahi was a youth international footballer for Belgium. ^[7] He had the choice between several national teams: Kosovo, Albania, Belgium and North Macedonia but he chose to represent Albania and obtained an Albanian passport in 2018. Selahi also represented the Albania U17s in a pair of friendly tournaments in 2015. ^{[8] [9]}

He made his debut with the Albanian U21 national team against Bosnia. In October 2019 he was called by the senior Albania national football team. He made his debut on 14 October 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Moldova. He substituted Keidi Bare in the 89th minute. ^[10]

Career statistics

Club

Season	Club	League	National League		National cup		Supercup		European		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2017–18	Standard Liège	Belgian 1st	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
2018–19	Standard Liège	Belgian 1st	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
2019–20	FC Twente	Eredivisie	25	2	1	0	—		—		26	2
2020–21	FC Twente	Eredivisie	5	0	1	0	—		—		6	0
2020–21	Willem II (loan)	Eredivisie	16	0	0	0	—		—		16	0
2021–22	Rijeka	1. HNL	30	2	4	0	—		2	0	36	2
2022–23	Rijeka	1. HNL	33	2	1	0	—		2	0	36	2
2023–24	Rijeka	1. HNL	29	4	1	0	—		6	0	36	4
Total			139	10	8	0	0	0	10	0	157	10

Last update: 15 May 2024^{[ citation needed ]}

International

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Albania	2019	1	0
	2020	3	0
	2021	0	0
	2022	0	0
	2023	0	0
Total		4	0

Honours

Standard Liège

• Belgian Cup: 2017–18 ^[11]

References

1. "Le Namurois Lindon Selahi (17 ans) signe un contrat professionnel au Standard".
2. "Le Standard donne une leçon de réalisme à Anderlecht et s'empare de la 2ème place". 10 May 2018.
3. "AANWINST LINDON SELAHI - NA ROUTINE NU TOEKOMST".
4. Twente zonder groots te spelen simpel langs Emmen - AD (in Dutch)
5. "Willem II loan Selahi from Twente". Football Oranje. 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
6. "Lindon Selahi novi igrač HNK Rijeka: 'Jedva čekam zaigrati pred navijačima Rijeke'" (in Croatian). 2021-07-24.
7. "Albanian talent Lindon Selahi: I'm interested to play for Albania or Belgium, not Macedonia".
8. "Grumbullohet kombëtarja U-17 – FSHF". 9 March 2015.
9. "U-17, turne ne Austri – FSHF". 16 April 2015.
10. "Moldova v Albania game report". ESPN. 14 October 2019.
11. "Sam. 17 Mars 2018, 20h45 - BELGIQUE - Coupe de Belgique". maxifoot.fr. Retrieved 22 April 2022.

External links

• Lindon Selahi at Soccerway
• Lindon Selahi at the Royal Belgian Football Association
• Fox Sports Profile
• Standard Profile
• Career stats - Voetbal International