Arb Manaj
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-07-23) 23 July 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Klina, FR Yugoslavia[1]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Team information
Current team
 Zhenis (on loan from Drita)
Youth career
2004–2015 Dukagjini
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Dukagjini +11 (5)
2017–2020 Trepça '89 53 (24)
2020–2022 Ankara Keçiörengücü 17 (4)
2021 → Balıkesirspor (loan) 14 (6)
2021–2022 → Bandırmaspor (loan) 13 (1)
2022–2023 Slaven Belupo 23 (1)
2023–2024 Ballkani 4 (1)
2024– Drita 0 (0)
2024– → Zhenis (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2020 Kosovo U21 1 (0)
2020–2021 Kosovo 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2021

Arb Manaj (born 23 July 1998) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Zhenis on loan from Drita.[2]

Club career

Dukagjini

Manaj at the age of 6 started playing football in Dukagjini.[3] He before the start of the 2015–16 season was promoted to first team of First Football League of Kosovo club Dukagjini and suffered an ACL injury, two minutes after the start of the match against Ferizaj in third matchday of 2015–16 First Football League of Kosovo.[4] After ten months, Manaj returned from injury, and in the next ten games he scored five goals and assisted three times.[5]

Trepça '89

On 22 July 2017, Manaj joined with Football Superleague of Kosovo club Trepça '89.[6]

Ankara Keçiörengücü

On 5 October 2020, Manaj signed a three-year contract with TFF First League club Ankara Keçiörengücü.[7] Twelve days later, he made his debut in a 1–2 away win against Ümraniyespor after being named in the starting line-up.[8] On 4 November 2020, Manaj scored his first goals for Ankara Keçiörengücü in his third appearance for the club in a 6–0 home win over Büyükçekmece Tepecikspor in 2020–21 Turkish Cup third round.[9]

Loan at Balıkesirspor

On 1 February 2021, Manaj was loaned to TFF First League side Balıkesirspor until the end of the season.[10] Six days later, he made his debut in a 3–0 home win against Akhisarspor after being named in the starting line-up.[11] Seven days after debut, Manaj scored his first goal for Balıkesirspor in his second appearance for the club in a 1–1 away draw over Menemenspor in TFF First League.[12]

Loan at Bandırmaspor

On 9 August 2021, Manaj joined TFF First League side Bandırmaspor, on a season-long loan.[13] Five days later, he made his debut in a 0–2 away win against Denizlispor after coming on as a substitute at 81st minute in place of Guy-Michel Landel.[14]

Slaven Belupo

On 26 July 2022, Manaj signed a two-year contract with Croatian Football League club Slaven Belupo.[15] His debut with Slaven Belupo came on 14 August in a 0–1 away win against Rijeka after coming on as a substitute at 60th minute in place of Marko Žuljević.[16]

International career

Youth

Albania U19

On 30 December 2014, Manaj received a call-up from Albania U19 for the unofficial friendly match against Italy U18,[17] but he was an unused substitute in that match.

Kosovo U21

On 11 November 2019, Manaj received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Austria U21.[18] On 4 September 2020, he made his debut with Kosovo U21 in a 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against England U21 after being named in the starting line-up.[19]

Senior

On 24 December 2019, Manaj received a call-up from Kosovo for the friendly match against Sweden,[20] and made his debut after coming on as a substitute at 84th minute in place of Elbasan Rashani.[21] On 8 June 2021, Manaj scored his first goal for Kosovo in his second appearance for the country in a 1–2 home defeat over Guinea.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of 19 August 2022[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Trepça '89 2017–18 Kosovo Superleague 5 3 0 0 — 5 3
2018–19 16 4 0 0 — 16 4
2019–20 29 17 0 0 — 29 17
2020–21 3 0 0 0 — 3 0
Total 53 24 0 0 — 53 24
Ankara Keçiörengücü 2020–21 TFF First League 12 4 1 2 — 13 6
Balıkesirspor (loan) 2020–21 TFF First League 14 6 0 0 — 14 6
Bandırmaspor (loan) 2021–22 TFF First League 13 1 3 5 — 16 6
Ankara Keçiörengücü 2021–22 TFF First League 5 0 0 0 — 5 0
Slaven Belupo 2022–23 Croatian Football League 2 0 0 0 — 2 0
Career total 99 35 4 7 — 103 42

International

As of 11 June 2021[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Kosovo 2020 1 0
2021 2 1
Total 3 1
Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Manaj goal.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
List of international goals scored by Arb Manaj
1 8 June 2021 Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex, Manavgat, Turkey  Guinea 1–2 1–2 Friendly [22]

References

  1. ^ "Futbollisti Klinas Arb Manaj debuton me përfaqësuesen e Kosovës" [Klina's footballer Arb Manaj debuts with Kosovo national team]. Klina.info (in Albanian). 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Arb Manaj at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ "Futbolli si trashëgimi e luftës për Arb Manajn" [Football as the legacy of the war for Arb Manaj]. Gazeta Olle (in Albanian). 9 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Operohet Arb Manaj, talenti i madh kosovar" [Arb Manaj is operated, the great Kosovar talent]. Gazeta Olle (in Albanian). 7 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Manaj: Lëndimi ma mohoi kalimin në Dinamo Zagreb, kurse "sherri" pasaportës nuk luajta për kombëtaren" [Manaj: The injury denied me the transfer to Dinamo Zagreb, while "cause" of passport I did not play for the national team]. Gazeta Blic (in Albanian). April 2020.
  6. ^ "Arb Manaj kalon te Trepça'89" [Arb Manaj passes to Trepça'89]. TopSporti (in Albanian). 22 July 2017.
  7. ^ Ankara Keçiörengücü SK [@ankara_kg] (5 October 2020). "Ankara Keçiörengücümüz, KF Trepca89 forması giyen geçen sezon gol krallığı yaşayan 22 yaşındaki Kosovalı santrfor Arb Manaj ile 3 yıllık sözleşme imzaladı" [Ankara Keçiörengücü signed a 3-year contract with the 22-year-old Kosovar center Arb Manaj, who wore the KF Trepca89 jersey, who was the top scorer last season] (Tweet) (in Turkish) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Ankara Keçiörengücümüz 2 – Ümraniyespor 1" (in Turkish). Ankara Keçiörengücü SK. 17 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Ankara Keçiörengücü: 6 – Büyükçekmece Tepecikspor: 0" (in Turkish). Ankara Keçiörengücü SK. 4 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Arb Manaj Balıkesirspor'umuzda" [Arb Manaj in Balıkesirspor] (in Turkish). Balıkesirspor. 2 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Balıkesirspor'umuz 3–0 Akhisarspor" [Balıkesirspor 3–0 Akhisarspor] (in Turkish). Balıkesirspor. 7 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Menemenspor 1–1 Balıkesirspor'umuz" [Menemenspor 1–1 Balıkesirspor] (in Turkish). Balıkesirspor. 14 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Zyrtare: Arb Manaj i bashkohet Bandirmasporit" [Official: Arb Manaj joins Bandirmaspor] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 9 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Denizlispor vs. Bandırmaspor 0–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Arb Manaj novi je igrač Slaven Belupa" [Arb Manaj is the new player of Slaven Belupo] (in Croatian). NK Slaven Belupo. 26 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Debi Manaja u dresu Slaven Belupa" [Manaj's debut in Slaven Belupo jersey] (in Croatian). NK Slaven Belupo. 15 August 2022.
  17. ^ "U-19, tjeter miqesore me Italine" [U-19, another friendly with Italy] (in Turkish). Albanian Football Association. 30 December 2014.
  18. ^ "Prekazi publikon listën e futbollistëve për ndeshjen me Austrinë" [Prekaz publishes the list of players for the match against Austria] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 11 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Formacionet zyrtare: Kosovë U21 – Angli U21" [Official line-ups: Kosovo U21 – England U21]. Lajmi.net (in Albanian). 4 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Lista e futbollistëve për ndeshjen Kosovë–Suedi" [List of players for the match Kosovo–Sweden] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 24 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Sweden (1–0) Kosovo". eu-football.info. 12 January 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Kosova mposhtet nga Guinea, golin për Dardanët e shënon Arb Manaj" [Kosovo is defeated by Guinea, the goal for the Dardanians is scored by Arb Manaj] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 8 June 2021.
  23. ^ Arb Manaj at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  24. ^ "Arb Manaj". eu-football.info. 11 June 2021.

External links

Turkish Cup top scorers
Categories