Three important episodes from Muriqi's early career

“The Guardian”, “Marca”, “Kicker” and many other major international media outlets have written about Vedat Muriqi recently. Goals in La Liga for Mallorca, a huge impact in Kosovo and reaching the final of the World Cup play-offs, as well as the winning goal against Real Madrid, which almost ended the race for the La Liga title, have put Muriqi at the peak of his fame as a player.

The numerous articles in the international media are proof of this. Muriqi, the 31-year-old striker from Prizren, is something that most people in Kosovo are proud of. And, perhaps understandably, when it comes to successful athletes, many consider themselves to have had some merit in his rise.

The greatest credit, of course, goes to Muriqi himself – the extraordinary work he has done and the overcoming of many challenges. In sports, luck is also very important. The striker himself admits this.

However, there are certain moments or episodes in a career, especially at the beginning, that give direction to the journey.

KOHA has selected some of them for Muriqi's extraordinary career.

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Moving to the first team of Liberty

"The junior generation was from 1992 and I took Vedat to the juniors, even though he was born in 1994," says the famous coach from Prizren, Behajdin Gjinali.

He emphasizes that he "promoted" Muriqi from the cadet team to the Liria junior team, and then from the junior team to the adult team.

In sports, this is a very important stage. Many talented players end their careers after playing with the junior team, or after having trouble getting into the adult team. Muriqi made this move very early in his career.

"After seeing that he was corpulent, I asked permission from the cadet coach to take him to the juniors. At first he was a left-back. Meanwhile, I moved on to coach the first team of Liria and then I took Vedat to the first team," Gjinali added in an interview with KOHĦA.

Gjinali says that at that time, a decade and a half ago, he was the coach of Liria for a year and a half.

But how did Muriqi transform from a left back to a center forward?

"Back then, we practiced having a training game between the senior team and the junior team once a week. The junior team, led by coach Genc Tamniku, was missing a striker and we decided to try Vedat in that position. So he started playing as a striker and when he came to me in the first team, he was a striker," Gjinali said.

He appreciates Muriqi's consistency and dedication throughout his career. He says he never gave up, he overcame challenges, he had luck, and this brought him to the highest level.

Contract amendment for the step towards ... Teuta of Durrës

Gjinali presents various documents and data from working with Muriqi at Liria. Of course, other coaches have also worked with the striker at the Prizren club. Skënder Kapra and Skënder Shëngyli, among others. He played for the first team of Liria, made a career in the Super League and in January 2013 joined Teuta of Durrës.

In fact, there had previously been tryouts in Switzerland, Sweden, and Turkey, but without winning a contract. Muriqi himself considered the tryouts unsuccessful.

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He also went through trials at Teuta. In fact, a change had to be made to his contract with Lirina to enable the move to Teuta.

At that time, every transition from Kosovo football to Albania football was an important step forward. Kosovo football was suffering greatly from isolation.

"In the summer of 2012, we signed a contract with Vedati, valid for four years. With the contract he signed with Liria, Vedati had a salary of 200 euros per month. When he went to Teutë, we as a club agreed to release him on a six-month loan. But Teuta refused this. They only agreed to take him as a free player, so without a contract with us. Vedati and his uncle came to my house and asked me to change the contract, so to release him. I asked the club's managers about this and we changed it. So we released him. So Vedati moved to Teuta and then his career growth did not stop. And now he has reached the peak," says Bashkim Kajdomçaj, a long-time administrator at the Liria club.

He also offers many documents, such as match minutes, from the time of Muriqi to Liria.

Kajdomçaj says that Muriqi was the height he is now, even as a 16-year-old. He says that his determination to succeed in his career has characterized him. And for this, neither rejections after the trials nor other obstacles in his career have stopped him.

It is estimated that Liria e Prizren has benefited from at least 800 thousand euros from the transfers made by Muriqi during his career. This is a tax that FIFA guarantees to clubs for the development of young players.

The first days in Durrës

Now he scores goals against Real Madrid, but in January 2013, Muriqi's challenge was to convince the management of Teuta Durrës to offer him a contract. And that wasn't easy.

After just a few days of trials, Muriqi was offered a one-and-a-half-year contract with the Durrës-based club. Gentian Begeja was Teuta's coach when Muriqi signed. However, Begeja was replaced a few weeks later by Gugash Magani. Under Magani's orders, he made his debut for Teuta in the Albanian Super League on February 23, 2013.

"Vedati came with a family member and his name was proposed to the president of our club, Edmond Hasanbelliu. We decided to try him. They were gathered in Golem, on the beach, for a preparatory phase. What can I say, a tall, strong boy for his age. Bent, wise, like all the other players who came from Kosovo. He left an impression on me to be honest. He was physically good, and technically okay. I'm talking about his relationship with the ball, passing, receiving. And we told the president to offer him a contract. I left the team management at the end of that January, but Vedati stayed for a while and then was loaned to Besa e Kavajës", Begeja told KOHĘN.

In fact, Muriqi had no space at Teuta. For Begeja, this is understandable. He says that the team had two of the best strikers in the league at the time, Daniel Xhafaj and Bledar Mançaku, and Muriqi was not engaged as the main striker. But the contract was given to him because of his potential for the future.

At Besa e Kavajës, the current “Pirate” of Mallorca, he was loaned in January 2014. And in the summer of that year he was free. He went on trial at Giresunspor in the Turkish second category. He did not have a good first season. But the club president gave him the opportunity for another season. Muriqi then exploded. He scored 17 goals in the 2015/16 season, a decade ago. Gençlerbirligi, Rizespor, Fenerbahçe, Lazio and since the beginning of 2022, Mallorca. He is now a legend of this club and of course of Albanian football.

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He considers the explosion at Giresunspor as the most important moment in his amazing career rise.

"The most important thing is that I never gave up. The key to success was not giving up. I failed a lot. But I knew I could succeed. Of course, I also had a little luck. I am where I am today thanks to the work and luck I have had," Muriqi emphasizes.