Emra Tahirović


Emra Tahirović is a Swedish footballer who played as a striker in the top divisions of Swedish, French and Swiss football.

Early life

Tahirović was born in Sarajevo but fled to Sweden upon the outbreak of the Bosnian War. He was raised in Örebro, Sweden.
He was born with the surname Tahirović. However, allegedly, this made it very difficult for his family to flee due to the Serbian stymieing the emigration of those whose last names ended in vić. In order to flee to Sweden, Emra's family changed their last name to Tahiri. Since arriving, they have now changed it back to the original Tahirović.

Career

Tahirović started to play for local club IK Sturehov and at the age of 14 moved to Örebro SK. After failing to become a "starting eleven" player he moved to Halmstads BK in 2006. Prior to signing with HBK he had been on trial with his future club FC Zürich and also Werder Bremen, but wanted to continue his development in the Swedish Allsvenskan before joining the larger European clubs. During his tenure with HBK he played maily as a substitute..
In 2007, he drew the attention of Lille OSC in the French Ligue 1 and was later signed for 15 million SEK. After playing only two matches with the club, he was loaned to Swiss side FC Zurich in January 2008 for the remainder of the season. At the end of the season he signed permanently for FC Zurich.
In 2009, he went on loan back to Örebro SK in Allsvenskan and turned back in December 2009 to FC Zürich. In January 2010 Tahirović left the Swiss club again and signed a half year loan deal with MVV Maastricht.