# Mërgim Brahimi

Mërgim Brahimi (born 8 August 1992) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Wil. A youth international for Albania and Switzerland, Brahimi represented the Albania national team before switching to the Kosovo national team.

## Early life

Brahimi was born in Istog, FR Yugoslavia to Kosovar Albanian parents. He lived in Istog for two years before moving to Zürich, Switzerland along with his mother, brother and two sisters due to the growing tension in Kosovo. Prior to moving, his father had been living for a number of years in Switzerland as a Gastarbeiter. He then signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich in 1997 before being spotted by Grasshopper Club Zürich in 2007.

## Club career
### Youth clubs

At the age of five, Brahimi signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich before being spotted by Grasshopper Zürich in 2007. Brahimi moved up the ranks of the youth divisions at Grasshopper Zürich, eventually playing for the under-21s in 2010. In the under-21s, Brahimi made a total of thirty two appearances and scored three goals before joining the senior team.

### Grasshopper Club Zürich

Brahimi made his first team appearance against city rivals FC Zürich on 2 October 2011. He came on in the 21st minute and made a good impact, in a game that was later abandoned due to FC Zürich fan violence. A 3–0 victory was awarded to GC.
Brahimi made his first starting appearance in the second round of the Schweizer Cup against FC Chiasso on 16 October 2011. He started the game and was substituted in the 77th minute for Davor Landeka in the 1–0 win.

### Panionios

On 14 January 2018, Panionios officially announced the capture of Kosovo-Albanian Mërgim Brahimi. The 25-year-old international (with Kosovo National Team) attacking midfielder will replace experienced Iranian attacking midfielder Masoud Shojaei who recently joined rivals AEK Athens.

### FC Wil

On 3 June 2019, it was confirmed that Brahimi a two-year contract with FC Wil with an option to one further year.

## International career

Originating from Kosovo with ethnic Albanian parents and raised in Switzerland, Brahimi was eligible to play for Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo if a national team should be formed, but in March 2011 he answered the call by Albania's Under-21 coach Artan Bushati for a non official friendly tournament held in Slovenia.
On 26 August 2011 Brahimi was called up by Switzerland U-20 for two friendlies against Italy and Germany in September, but he refused the offer and decided to represent Albania instead.
He officially gained Albanian citizenship on 26 August 2011 along with his Grasshopper teammate Imran Bunjaku, in order to compete in the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers .

### Albania senior team

He received his first senior international call up for friendliest by Gianni De Biasi against Qatar and Iran in May 2012.
Brahimi made his international debut on 27 May 2012 against Iran, at age of 19.

### Switzerland under-21

Brahimi switched to play for Switzerland national under-21 football team in 2013–15 season. He scored 2 goals in 4 qualifying matches.

### Kosovo senior team

Brahimi switched his nationality again in 2015. He scored a brace in his debut match for Kosovo national football team, against Equatorial Guinea. He also played another match for Kosovo in November 2015.
He was invited by Albert Bunjaki, in a friendly with Faroe Islands on 3 June 2016. That match was the first match of Kosovo as a member of FIFA. However, as he also played for national teams of Albania and Switzerland, his switch to Kosovo competitively was dependent on the approval of FIFA's Bureau of the Players' Status Committee. Brahimi and Football Federation of Kosovo had to submit a formal request to the committee in order to know the eligibility of Brahimi.
To sum up, Brahimi played twice for Kosovo in friendlies, but did not made his competitive debut yet.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 25 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Grasshoppers | 2011–12 | Super League | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Grasshoppers | 2012–13 | Super League | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 3 |
| Grasshoppers | 2013–14 | Super League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Grasshoppers | Total | Total | 31 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| FC Aarau (loan) | 2013–14 | Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| FC Wohlen (loan) | 2013–14 | Challenge League | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 5 |
| FC Wohlen | 2014–15 | Challenge League | 32 | 8 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 34 | 10 |
| FC Wohlen | 2015–16 | Challenge League | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 |
| FC Wohlen | Total | Total | 39 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 11 |
| Grasshoppers | 2015–16 | Super League | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| Grasshoppers | 2016–17 | Super League | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| Grasshoppers | 2017–18 | Super League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| Grasshoppers | Total | Total | 53 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 64 | 1 |
| Panionios | 2017–18 | Superleague | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| FC Wil | 2019–20 | Challenge League | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 3 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 170 | 21 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 193 | 23 |
* ↑ Appearance in the Champions League
* ↑ Appearances in the Europa League

### International

    As of 25 March 2020
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Albania | 2012 | 1 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 3 | 0 |