# Besar Halimi

Besar Halimi (born 12 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for 3. Liga club SV Sandhausen. Born in Germany, he plays for the Kosovo national team.

## Club career
### Early career

Halimi first played for a local club VfL Germania 1894 and joined the youth academy of Eintracht Frankfurt, when he was six years old. In 2007, he transferred to the youth academy of SV Darmstadt 98, where he played until 2009. Where he went to play in the youth team of 1. FC Nürnberg. In the 2011–12 season, he played two matches in the Regionalliga Süd for 1. FC Nürnberg II. In the following season he played 17 matches in the Regionalliga Bayern for the reserves of Nürnberg, where he scored one goal.
On 12 July 2013, Halimi was signed to the VfB Stuttgart II. On 21 September 2013, he made his professional debut in a 3. Liga match against Rot-Weiß Erfurt and he ended the season with 14 matches and one goal. In order to gain more playing time, Halimi signed with Stuttgarter Kickers for the 2014–15 season. In one season he made two goals in 37 league matches for the Kickers and was chosen as the Player of the Month of 3. Liga for November 2014.

### Mainz 05

On 12 July 2015, Halimi signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga club Mainz 05, and was immediately loaned out to 2. Bundesliga outfit FSV Frankfurt for the entirety of the 2015–16 season. In the following season, he played for the Mainz 05 II in the 3. Liga.

### Brøndby

For the 2017–18 season. Halimi joined Danish Superliga side Brøndby, on a season-long loan. On 13 July 2017, he made his debut with Brøndby in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against the Finnish side VPS after coming on as a substitute at 64th minute in place of Kamil Wilczek.
   I really missed my teammates and the club. Never before have I experienced having such a strong bond to a club or any teammates before, as I did in Brøndby last season.
— Halimi on returning to Brøndby IF, August 2018.
On 30 August 2018, Halimi returned and signed a two-year contract with Danish Superliga club Brøndby. Three days later, he made his debut in a 2–2 home draw against Midtjylland after coming on as a substitute at 76th minute in place of Lasse Vigen.

### SV Sandhausen

On 2 September 2019, Halimi signed a two-year contract with 2. Bundesliga club SV Sandhausen. On 21 September, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against VfL Bochum after being named in the starting line-up. He scored his first goal for Sandhausen against Holstein Kiel on 22 December, exploiting a poor pass from opposing goalkeeper Dominik Reimann in an eventual 2–2 draw.
On 23 December 2020, in the second round of the DFB-Pokal, Halimi made his cup debut for Sandhausen, coming off the bench at half-time for Julius Biada as they were knocked out 4–0 by VfL Wolfsburg. His first goal of the 2020–21 season came on 20 February 2021, as he struck a volley from the edge of the area off a header from Nils Röseler in a 2–1 loss to SC Paderborn; Sandhausen's third loss in a row.
During his two seasons with Sandhausen, Halimi made 27 total appearances in which he scored two goals, as he failed to become an established starter.

### Riga

On 12 July 2021, Halimi joined Latvian Higher League side Riga. Five days later, he made his debut in a 2–3 away win against Spartaks Jūrmala after coming on as a substitute at 66th minute in place of Felipe Brisola.
On 2 March 2022, Halimi had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

### Hallescher FC

On 26 June 2023, Halimi signed with Hallescher FC in the 3. Liga.

## International career

From 2011, until 2012, Halimi has been part of Germany at youth international level, respectively has been part of the U18 and U19 teams and he with these teams played 3 matches. On 7 October 2015, he received a call-up from Kosovo for the friendly match against Equatorial Guinea, and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

## Personal life

Halimi was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Kosovo Albanian parents from the village Malishevë of Gjilan.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 15 November 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1. FC Nürnberg II | 2011–12 | Regionalliga Südwest | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg II | 2012–13 | Regionalliga Bayern | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 1 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg II | Total | Total | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 1 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | 2013–14 | 3. Liga | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 1 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | 2014–15 | 3. Liga | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| Mainz 05 | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Mainz 05 | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Mainz 05 | Total | Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| FSV Frankfurt (loan) | 2015–16 | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 4 |
| Mainz 05 II | 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 4 |
| Brøndby (loan) | 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 8 |
| Brøndby | 2018–19 | Danish Superliga | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| SV Sandhausen | 2019–20 | 2. Bundesliga | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 1 |
| SV Sandhausen | 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| SV Sandhausen | Total | Total | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 27 | 2 |
| Riga | 2021 | Latvian Higher League | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 187 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 210 | 24 |
* ↑ Includes Württemberg Cup

### International

    As of 14 November 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Kosovo | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2016 | 3 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2017 | 4 | 1 |
| Kosovo | 2018 | 6 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2019 | 8 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2021 | 10 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 34 | 3 |
    As of 31 March 2021
    Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Halimi goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |