Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami

Valon Behrami is a Swiss midfielder who plays in the English "Watford". His career is gradually approaching its end, since he is already 31 years old, and this can be traced to the clubs for which he spoke. Valon Behrami is a supporting midfielder, but he can also be used on the right-hand margin of the field as an extreme defender or midfielder.

Carier start

Valon Behrami was born on April 19, 1985 in Yugoslavia in the 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 club Stabio, and in 1997 he was able to move to the more serious club Chiasso. When he was fifteen years old, he went through a viewing at the club "Lugano", with which he entered into a professional contract three years later. Already at the age of 17 he began to appear in the first 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 already in eighteen years has got over to one of the strongest clubs of Europe.

Playing in Italy

Valon Behrami - a football player who has changed a lot of clubs during his career, he did not stay in any place for long. In the "Genoa", which then played in the B series, he spent one year, going on the field 24 times. After that, the Swiss was immediately sent to rent in a weaker "Verona", where for a year he appeared on the field in 33 games, scoring three goals. When Behrami returned, he immediately received an offer from the Roman "Lazio", one of the leading clubs in the country. The Romans paid six million euros for the transfer of young talent - and it was here that Valon settled for a pretty decent time. In "Lazio" he immediately got a place in the base and in the first season he played 26 games, scoring two goals. The next two seasons were not so successful for the player - in total he spent 44 more matches, scoring two goals - and in the summer of 2008 he went to conquer the new championship.

Going to West Ham

Behrami signed a contract with the English "West Ham", which played in the Premier League of England. There, in the first two seasons, he was one of the important players, playing 55 games and scoring three goals. However, the third season for him did not work out - for six months he went on the field only eight times and in the winter was sold back to Italy. West Ham paid six and a half million euros for the purchase of the 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 Valona, who happily returned to the series A, where he was taken to the "Fiorentina".

Return to Italy

In the first year and a half after his return to Italy, Behrami gradually took shape. He played for "violets" twenty matches, which drew the attention of "Napoli", who laid out for the Swiss eight million euros. It was in Naples and Behrami that he opened up, 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 the same year it became clear that in Naples, the Swiss has no future. Therefore, for six million euros, he moved to the new championship - the Bundesliga, where he signed a contract with "Hamburg".

Moving to Germany

For the year in the "Hamburg" Behrami came on the field only 22 times - and this despite the fact that this club was on the verge of relegation from the championship. It became obvious that Valon was losing shape and was gradually starting to descend from the peak, which he went to "Napoli". The next summer, the Swiss was sold to FC Watford for only three and a half million euros, which was almost half as much as Hamburg paid for it a year ago.

Again the Premier League

Although the first acquaintance with the English Premier League from Behrami was not the most successful, he decided to return to England. In the first season in the new club, he went on the field in 22 games. In the current season he appeared on the field already in eight meetings, becoming one of the players of the starting lineup. His contract with the club is until the summer of 2018.

National team appearances

What successes in the national team of Switzerland has Valon Behrami? The statistics of the player is impressive - he debuted in the distant 2005 and has since played in 72 games. This indicator allowed Behrami to enter the top five of the record for the matches played for the Swiss team from the now professional players - and in the top 20 among all players in history. The first big tournament for him was the World Championship in 2006, where he was replaced in one match. At the 2008 European Championships, he was already a basic player, but at the 2010 World Championship he played only 31 minutes, as he received a red card and was removed. As for the World Cup 2014 and the European Championship 2016, then on them Behrami was also one of the key players of the national team.