Valon Behrami is a Swiss midfielder who plays in the English Watford. His career is gradually nearing its end, as he is already 31 years old, and this can be seen in the clubs for which he played. Valon Behrami is a defensive midfielder, but it can also be used on the right edge of the field as an extreme defender or midfielder.
Carier start
Valon Behrami was born on April 19, 1985 in Yugoslavia in a family of Kosovo Albanians who moved to Switzerland, like many others, in the early nineties. In 1993, when the family had already settled in a new place, the eight-year-old Valon began attending the football academy of the tiny Stabio club, and in 1997 he was able to move to the more serious club Chiasso. When he was fifteen, he went through a viewing at the Lugano club, with which he entered into a professional contract three years later. Already at the age of 17, he began to leave the main team and impress scouts from other championships, so in the summer of 2003 the Italian FC Genoa offered him a long-term contract, which the young talent gladly agreed to. So Valon Behrami at the age of eighteen moved to one of the strongest clubs in Europe.
Game in Italy
Valon Behrami is a football player who has replaced many clubs during his career; he practically did not stay in one place for a long time. In “Genoa”, which then played in series B, he spent one year, having entered the field 24 times. After that, the Swiss was immediately sent on loan to the weaker Verona, where in a year he appeared on the field in 33 matches, scoring three goals. When Behrami returned, he immediately received an offer from the Roman Lazio, one of the country's leading clubs. The Romans paid six million euros for the transfer of young talent - and it was here that Valon settled for a fairly decent period. In “Lazio” he immediately got a place at the base and in the first season he spent 26 matches, scoring two goals. The next two seasons were not so successful for the player - in total, he spent another 44 matches, scoring two goals - and in the summer of 2008 went to conquer the new championship.
Going to West Ham
Behrami signed a contract with the English West Ham, who played in the Premier League of England. There, in the first two seasons, he was one of the important players, having played 55 matches and scoring three goals. However, the third season did not work out for him - for six months he went on the field only eight times and was sold back to Italy in the winter. West Ham paid six and a half million euros to buy a player, and received two and a half years later, three times less. It turned out that the English Premier League is not a championship for Valon, who happily returned to Serie A, where Fiorentina took him.
Return to Italy
In the first year and a half after returning to Italy, Behrami gradually gained shape. He played twenty matches for the Violets, which attracted the attention of Napoli, who paid eight million euros for the Swiss. It was in Naples that Behrami revealed himself, reaching the peak of his career. For two seasons, he appeared on the field in seventy matches, winning in 2014 his first trophy - the Italian Cup. But in the summer of that year, it became clear that the Swiss had no future in Naples. Therefore, for six million euros, he moved to a new championship - the Bundesliga, where he signed a contract with Hamburg.
Relocation to Germany
During the year Behrami entered the field only 22 times in Hamburg, despite the fact that this club was on the verge of relegation from the championship. It became apparent that Valon was losing shape and was gradually starting to descend from the peak he had reached at Napoli. The following summer, the Swiss sold at Watford FC for just three and a half million euros, which was almost half the amount that Hamburg paid for it a year ago.
Premier League Again
Although Behram’s first encounter with the English Premier League was not the best, he decided to return to England. In the first season in the new club, he entered the field in 22 matches. This season, he appeared on the field in eight meetings, becoming one of the players in the starting lineup. His contract with the club is valid until the summer of 2018.
Team appearances
What successes did Valon Behrami make in Switzerland? The statistics of the football player is impressive - he made his debut back in 2005 and has since played in 72 matches. This figure allowed Behrami to enter the top five record holders for matches played for the Swiss national team of players who are currently playing at the professional level - and the top twenty among all players in history. The first big tournament for him was the 2006 World Cup, where he came on as a substitute in one match. At the 2008 European Championship he was already a base player, but at the 2010 World Championship he played only 31 minutes, as he received a red card and was deleted. As for the World Cup 2014 and the European Championship 2016, then Behrami was also one of the key players in the national team.