Olger Merkaj (born 23 July 1997) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for Italian Serie D club Trapani.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1997-07-23) 23 July 1997 (age 25) | ||
| Place of birth | Vlorë, Albania | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right winger, Forward[1] | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Trapani | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012–2016 | Sampdoria | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2017 | Sampdoria | 0 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | → Tuttocuoio (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2017 | Casale | 16 | (2) |
| 2017–2019 | Chieri | 48 | (11) |
| 2019–2020 | US Breno | 20 | (7) |
| 2020–2021 | Bra | 37 | (18) |
| 2021–2022 | Foggia | 17 | (2) |
| 2022 | Campobasso | 16 | (1) |
| 2022– | Trapani | 0 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 September 2022 | |||
Merkaj was born in Vlorë, Albania and moved to Italy at age of 8. He started his youth career at U.C. Sampdoria in 2012.[2][3]
On 26 June 2016 Merkaj was loaned to Lega Pro side A.C. Tuttocuoio 1957 San Miniato.[4] He made it his club debut on 31 July 2016 in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia match against Casertana coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute in place of Irakli Shekiladze.[5]
On 2 December 2017 Casale announced that Merkaj moved to fellow Serie D side Chieri.[6] Four days later Merkaj debuted for Chieri with a goal in the Coppa Italia Serie D 3 round against Unione Sanremo. Merkaj's goal came in the 31st minute, 4 minutes after the opening goal of the match scored by Unione Sanremo and served to end the match in the 1–1, where then advanced in the penalty shoot-out where Merkaj's side was defeated 4–2.[7]
On 9 July 2021, he signed with Serie C club Foggia.[8]
On 21 January 2022, he moved to Campobasso.[9]
Merkaj received his first international call up at the Albania national under-17 football team by coach Džemal Mustedanagić for the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round.[10] However, due to health problems he was sent to a hospital in Czech Republic and was unable to participate in the tournament. He was visited at hospital by 4 Captains of all Group 4 youth national teams, Keidi Bare of Albania U17, Ryan Ledson of England U17, Filippo Romagna of Italy U17 and David Záleský of Czech Republic U17.[11]
Following a good season with Tuttocuoio in the 2016–17 Lega Pro's first-half he received his first call-up at the Albania national under-21 football team by coach Alban Bushi for a gathering from 21–28 January 2017.[12]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tuttocuoio | 2016–17 | Lega Pro | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| Casale | 2017–18 | Serie D | 16 | 2 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| Chieri | 2017–18 | Serie D | 17 | 6 | — | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 19 | 6 | |
| 2018–19 | Serie D | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 5 | ||
| Total | 48 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 11 | ||
| US Breno | 2019–20 | Serie D | 20 | 7 | — | — | 20 | 7 | ||
| Bra | 2020–21 | Serie D | 37 | 18 | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 38 | 18 | |
| Foggia | 2021–22 | Serie C | 17 | 2 | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| Campobasso | 2021–22 | Serie C | 16 | 1 | — | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 164 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 170 | 43 | ||