Born on an average day in late February 1999, in the far-off lands of Macedonia, our subject Nedim Bajrami crawls into the frame. Currently, Bajrami fits into the pound-for-pound world of football as a central attacking midfielder for Rangers. He's not the most towering figure on the pitch, standing at 5ft 10in (or 1.79m for those who favour the metric system) and tips the scales at 10st 9lb (or 68kg for those who can't shed their continental habits).
How much would you pay for such a midfielder? Well, if we're splitting hairs, Transfermarkt pegs his current market value at a very generous £2.6m.
The lad started his career in July 2009 as a trainee with Grasshoppers in the Super League in Switzerland. The 2016 - 2017 season saw our young fledgeling make his first timid steps into the world of professional football, playing a grand total of seven first team matches. The following two seasons saw a slight increase in his involvement, with Bajrami making 62 appearances and netting a less than earth-shattering tally of six goals.
In August 2019, Empoli in the Serie B in Italy decided to roll the dice, parting ways with around £430k to secure his services. Bajrami showed slightly more promise here, netting 17 goals off the 118 matches he participated in, spread over four seasons with the club.
Sadly, his scoring prowess didn't follow him when he was loaned out to Sassuolo in the Serie A in Italy, in January 2023. Fewer appearances and fewer goals, just two in two seasons, had to make for a slightly embarrassing taxi ride back to Empoli.
Still, Sassuolo had seen something in him, and coughed up a hearty £5.2m for his transfer in July 2023. Bajrami had a rollercoaster ride there making on-off appearances across seasons and managing to rack up only three goals.
Then came the call from north of the border, the all-singing, all-dancing, Scottish Premiership. Rangers parted with £3.5m to bring Bajrami over in August 2024. He has since made 31 first team appearances and scored a respectable four goals.
Outside of the club scene, he has also donned the Albanian national team jersey for a few games. His international career includes playing in the World Cup Qualifiers Europe, the Euro Qualifiers and the Nations League. He even managed to squeeze in a few goals here and there. Now, who said international football was boring?
