Florian Kamberi (born 8 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Swiss club Winterthur and the Albania national team. Kamberi has previously played for Grasshopper, Karlsruher SC, Hibernian and Rangers. He represented Switzerland at the under-21 level, and has since been selected for the Albania squad.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1995-03-08) 8 March 1995 (age 27) | ||
| Place of birth | Zürich, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Winterthur | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000 | Tuggen | ||
| 0000 | Rapperswil-Jona | ||
| 0000–2013 | Grasshopper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2014 | Rapperswil-Jona | 15 | (10) |
| 2014–2018 | Grasshopper II | 26 | (21) |
| 2015–2018 | Grasshopper | 32 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | → Karlsruher SC (loan) | 15 | (1) |
| 2018 | → Hibernian (loan) | 14 | (9) |
| 2018–2020 | Hibernian | 53 | (11) |
| 2020 | → Rangers (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | St. Gallen | 8 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Aberdeen (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 23 | (4) |
| 2022– | Winterthur | 9 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015 | Switzerland U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Switzerland U21 | 4 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 October 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:04, 26 February 2022 (UTC) | |||
Kamberi started his professional career with Swiss club Grasshoppers. On 31 August 2016, Kamberi was loaned to Karlsruher SC for the 2016–17 season in 2. Bundesliga.[1][2]
Kamberi went on trial with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian in January 2018,[3] and moved there on loan on 31 January.[4] Kamberi made his debut for Hibernian later that day, and scored the first goal in a 2–1 win against Motherwell.[5] Kamberi scored a hat-trick for Hibs on 3 April, in a 3–1 win against Hamilton.[6][7]
In June 2018, Hibernian signed Kamberi to a three-year contract.[8] Kamberi scored a hat-trick in a Europa League qualifier against NSÍ Runavík on 12 July.[9]
Kamberi moved on loan to Rangers on 31 January 2020.[10] Following the end of this loan period, and after a period spent in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kamberi returned to Hibernian for pre-season training in June 2020.[11]
On 6 August 2020, Kamberi moved back to his native Switzerland to sign for St. Gallen on a three-year deal.[12][13] Kamberi tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2020, and played infrequently for St. Gallen during the early part of the 2020–21 season.[14]
On 1 February 2021, Kamberi completed a loan switch back to Scotland to sign with Aberdeen until the end of the season.[15]
On 30 July 2021, Kamberi moved on a season-long loan deal to England to join recently relegated League One side Sheffield Wednesday.[16] He would make his debut on the opening day of the season against Charlton Athletic coming off the bench to replace Callum Paterson after he suffered a nasty head injury.[17] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win at Rotherham United on 21 August 2021.[18]
Kamberi was released from his contract by St. Gallen on 23 June 2022.[19]
On 7 July 2022, Kamberi signed with Winterthur.[20]
Kamberi was born in Switzerland and is of Kosovan descent,[21][22][23] which made him eligible to represent Switzerland, Kosovo and Albania.[24] Kamberi played in youth internationals for Switzerland,[25] and he scored for their under-21 team in a 1–1 draw against England in March 2016.[26]
Kamberi was included in the Albania squad for the first time in November 2019.[27] Delays in processing the paperwork required to transfer his international status from Switzerland to Albania, and a slight ankle injury, meant that he was unable to play in their matches with Andorra and France.[28]
On 17 March 2021, Kamberi was called up by the Albania national team ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers against Andorra, England and San Marino.[29]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Grasshopper | 2015–16[31] | Swiss Super League | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 3 | ||
| 2016–17[32] | Swiss Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18[33] | Swiss Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 3 | ||
| Karlsruher SC (loan) | 2016–17[32] | 2. Bundesliga | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| Hibernian (loan) | 2017–18[33] | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 9 | |
| Hibernian | 2018–19[34][lower-alpha 2] | Scottish Premiership | 33 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 4 | 43 | 13 |
| 2019–20[35] | Scottish Premiership | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | — | 27 | 8 | ||
| Total | 53 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 70 | 21 | ||
| Rangers (loan) | 2019–20[35] | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| St. Gallen | 2020–21[36] | Swiss Super League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[37] | Swiss Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Aberdeen (loan) | 2020–21[36] | Scottish Premiership | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2021–22[37] | EFL League One | 23 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 27 | 5 |
| Career total | 162 | 29 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 195 | 41 | ||
FC Winterthur – current squad | |
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