Jerdan Shaqiri is a Swiss professional footballer of Albanian descent, playing as a winger in the English club Stoke City and the national team of Switzerland. For his phenomenal game, he received such nicknames as Alpine Messi and the Magic Dwarf. The player has good speed, dribbling and accurate kick. Perfectly wielding both legs, he is known for his unpredictability on the field. He has previously performed at such renowned clubs as the Swiss Basel, the German Bayern Munich and the Italian Internationale. He has been playing in the Swiss national team since 2010, at the time of October 2017 he had 57 matches and scored 18 goals.
Biography
Jerdan Shakiri was born on October 10 in 1991 in the city of Gnilan (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now the Republic of Kosovo). When the guy turned one year old, his family emigrated to Switzerland. From the age of eight he began to play football, played at the August Academy. From 2001 to 2009 acted as part of the youth team "Basel". At the age of fifteen, he was named the best player in the Swiss Cup tournament under 15 years old. He wanted to sign many famous European clubs, but the guy decided to stay in the "Basel".
Beginning of a professional career at Basel
In 2009, Jerdan Shakiri signed a pro-contract with the club and began playing in the Swiss major football league. The debut match took place on July 12, 2009 against the St. Gallen Club at the AFG Arena. Four months later, he marked his debut goal in the match against Xamax (total score in favor of Basel 4-1).
In December 2011, in the Champions League match against Manchester United, he scored two assists, thereby helping the team win 2-1.
As part of the Swiss club, he played 3 seasons (held 92 meetings and recorded 18 goals for his statistics). Jerdan Shaqiri is a three-time Swiss champion and two-time Swiss Cup winner.
Careers at Bayern München
On February 9, 2012, Basel announced that Shakiri was joining the German club Bayern. The Swiss club bailed out for his football player 11.6 million euros. The contract was signed on a four-year basis, Jerdan's salary increased to 2 million euros per year.
On June 10, 2012 he made his debut in a friendly match against Unterhaching, which ended with the victory of the “Bavarians” with a score of 1-0. After 20 days, he played a duel in the framework of the DFD-Pokal against Jahn Regensburg (replaced in the 2nd half), in which he became the author of the second goal scored, as well as the co-author of the next two goals - assists to Mario Mandzhukic and Claudio Pizarro (4-0)
As part of the "German car" he played until 2015, spent 52 matches and scored 12 goals. Here he won a total of 9 trophies, including a victory in the 2013 Champions League.
Going to Internazionale Milano
In January 2015, he signed an agreement with Inter Milan for 15 million euros. In the fight for the transfer participated and the English Liverpool, which the player sharply refused. Despite the fact that the contract was signed for four and a half years, Shakiri said that he wanted to play in Stoke City, which he was interested in at that moment. In total, Inter played 15 matches and scored one goal.
Careers at Stoke City
In August 2015, Stoke City bought out Jerdan Shakiri for £ 12 million, this transfer was the most expensive in the club’s history. He made his debut here 11 days after signing the contract in a match against Norwich City, in which he scored an assist for Bim Diouf (draw 1-1). The first goal for “Stoke” scored on goal Everton December 28. At the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Shakiri scored 7 goals for the club.
