Dren Hodja (Albanian: Dren Hoxha; born 27 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for German club FC Gießen.[1] Born in Germany, he represented Albania at under-21 international level.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 28) | ||
| Place of birth | Offenbach am Main, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | FC Gießen | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2013 | Kickers Offenbach | ||
| 2013–2015 | Schalke 04 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2015 | Schalke 04 II | 31 | (3) |
| 2015–2016 | VfR Aalen | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2019 | Kickers Offenbach | 109 | (33) |
| 2019–2020 | Bayern Alzenau | 18 | (3) |
| 2020– | FC Gießen | 7 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2014 | Albania U21 | 0 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:45, 11 November 2020 (UTC) | |||
Hodja was in born in Offenbach am Main, Germany from Kosovo Albanians parents from Kosovo, who migrated in Germany due to the Kosovo War in 1992. His father also was a footballer who played as a forward and was a successful goalscorer. He started his youth career at hometown club Kickers Offenbach in 2002. Following the bankruptcy of Kickers Offenbach he decided to sign with FC Schalke 04 in 2013.[2]
Hodja started playing with FC Schalke 04 II where he debuted on 28 July 2013 against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen as substitute in the 73rd minute for Olivier Caillas.[3] He scored his first goal for Schalke 04 II on 30 November 2013 in the opening moments of the match which finished as 2–4 loss.[4]
He concluded the first season with 23 appearances, 16 as a starter and 2 goals scored.
On 19 July 2014, Hodja played a friendly match with the Schalke 04 first team and scored a goal in a 3–1 win over Hansa Rostock.[5]
Hodja started with goal in another season with Schalke 04 II the 2014–15 where he played 8 matches and in October 2014 he suffered an injury which kept him out of play until the end of the season.[6]
On 7 July 2015, Hodja signed with a one-year contract with fellow German club VfR Aalen in 3. Liga.[7] He made it his first professional debut for VfR Aalen on 5 December 2015 against Werder Bremen II coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute in place of Fabian Menig in a 1–1 draw.[8]
On 29 January 2016, Hodja signed a contract with Kickers Offenbach, the club where he started playing football at the age of 8.[9]
Following his goal with the first team of Schalke 04 in a friendly against Hansa Rostock he declared in an interview for Albanian media that he wanted to play for Albania in international level.[2]
Hodja was called up for the friendly match against Romania U21 on 8 October 2014,[10] but among with two other players based in Germany, Valmir Sulejmani and Leart Paqarada, withdrew because of a possible counter-attack by Germany.[11]
Hodja was called up to participate in the international tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 12–18 November 2014 he would have been unable to join the U-21 national team due to an injury.[12]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Schalke 04 II | 2013–14 | Regionalliga West | 23 | 2 | — | — | — | 23 | 2 | |||
| 2014–15 | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 31 | 3 | — | — | — | 31 | 3 | |||||
| VfR Aalen | 2015–16 | 3. Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Kickers Offenbach | 2015–16 | Regionalliga Südwest | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 14 | 4 | ||
| 2016–17 | 34 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 13 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 18 | 8 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 19 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 66 | 24 | 4 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 68 | 26 | |||
| Kickers Offenbach II | 2015–16 | Landesliga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 100 | 27 | 4 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 105 | 29 | |||