Kosovo and Albania in competition for Bayern's Star

Kosovo's football coach, Franco Foda, has held a meeting with the talent of the German giant, Bayern Munich, Yll Gashi. 

The major German newspaper "Bild" has reported that Foda wants to convince Gashi to join Kosovo.

"Kosovo coach Franco Foda traveled to Munich for talks and now wants to convince Gashi to move to the senior team as soon as possible. Kosovo, which defeated Sweden twice in World Cup qualifiers, is currently ranked second behind Switzerland and has a good chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup," Bild wrote on Tuesday.

This newspaper also wrote that many clubs have expressed interest in Yll Gashi.

Gashi is 17 years old and plays as a center forward. He joined Bayern from Hertha Berlin in September 2022 at the age of 14, for 90 thousand euros. He has shown good performances for the U17 and U19 teams. He has 39 goals and 13 assists in 54 games.

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"Albania also wants Gashi. The President of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, was also in Munich for talks. Since then, both federations have been in constant contact with Gashi," the German newspaper continues.

Gashi has one goal in 15 matches for Germany U17, while he has scored three goals for Germany U16.

The President of the Kosovo Football Federation, Agim Ademi, confirmed the interest in Gashi to KOHA. 

"The talent Yll Gashi is already proven as a player, very promising and very sought after. Naturally, we have been in contact with his father for a long time. Coach Foda is in contact with the player. Of course, the desire is great for him to be part of the FFK project and our national team. We are in contact and welcome our Dardanian Star," Ademi said on Tuesday.

Kosovo already has multiple options in attack. The main striker is Vedat Muriqi, while Fisnik Asllani and Albion Rrahmani are also playing key roles.

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Gashi, who moved to Munich with his family in 2022, hopes to make the move to Bayern's first team. 

"Bild" wrote that the following clubs have expressed interest in Gashi: Milan, Atalanta, Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg, Augsburg, Ajax, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Anderlecht, Basel, Young Boys and Salzburg.