Myrto Uzuni


Myrto Uzuni is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Hungarian club Ferencváros and the Albania national team.

Club career

Early career

Uzuni was born in Berat but moved to Greece along with his family as a child, where he remained for six years until 2012, which is when he returned to his hometown Berat. He joined his local side Tomori and began playing for the club's under-17 side, where he was the 2012–13 under-17 First Division top goalscorer with 14 goals. The following season he scored 4 times in his first 4 games, before joining the under-19 side for a football tournament in Spain in September 2013. Tomori won the tournament and Uzuni was the top goalscorer with 7 goals, which led to a call up to the senior team by the head coach Madrid Muxhaj.

Tomori Berat

He made his professional debut in an Albanian Cup fixture against Pogradeci on 24 October 2013, where he came on as a 53rd-minute substitute for Fatjon Lajthia in the goalless draw. He quickly became an important first team player for the under-19s, but he was once again called up to the senior team for the return leg of the Albanian Cup fixture against Pogradeci. Uzuni started the game and he quickly marked his first start with his first senior goal in the 2nd minute, before adding a 71st-minute winner in the 3–2 win that saw his side progress to the next round of the cup. He soon made his league debut in the Albanian First Division against Veleçiku on 14 December 2013 in a 1–0 away win, where he came on at half time for Salvador Gjonaj. Overall, he made 11 league appearances and scored one goal to help his side finish in 4th place, as well as adding 2 goals in 4 Albanian Cup games in his debut professional season, taking his tally to 3 goals in 15 games.
Having established himself in the first team during the second half of the previous season under Madrid Muxhaj, the club saw a change of management as Eqerem Memushi took charge of the squad ahead of the 2014–15 campaign. The new head coach showed faith in the young player, by starting him in the opening game of the season in a 1–0 win against Shkumbini. He continued to remain in the first team with his good displays, and in December he scored twice in 11 days before the winter break. His performances throughout 2014 won him the Tomori Player of the Year award, which was given to the player shortly before he would go on to join top flight side Apolonia in the January transfer window of 2015.

Apolonia

In January 2015 Uzuni joined Albanian Superliga side Apolonia by penning a four-year contract.

Laçi

On 17 August 2017, after being a target of several top flight clubs, Uzuni completed a transfer to Laçi for €20,000. On the same day, he played and scored in a friendly against Iliria which ended 2–2. He made his competitive debut later on 10 September in 2017–18 Albanian Superliga matchday 1 against Partizani, playing full-90 minutes as Laçi caused an upset by winning 2–0. He opened his scoring account on 21 October in the matchday 6 against Lushnja which finished in a 3–0 win with lifted Laçi in 3rd place in championship.
Later on 10 December, Uzuni scored his second of the season – the lone goal of the match versus Skënderbeu – to end the latter's undefeated streak in league. It was Laçi's first league win over Skënderbeu since April 2015. He scored his first top flight brace later on 14 March of the following year in the 3–1 win at Lushnja; he also hit the crossbar twice and had a goal canceled for offside. He has scored 7 goals with 3 different teams at Roza Haxhiu Stadium, thus making his favourite stadium to score.
In the final matchday, Uzuni scored a brace in the 4–2 home win over Teuta which gave him ten for the campaign, as Laçi finished in 4th place to return to UEFA Europa League for the first time in three years.
In July 2018, Uzuni was included in manager Besnik Prenga squad list for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League campaign. He made his debut in the competition on 12 July in the first leg of first qualifying round versus Anorthosis Famagusta. He played the entire match as Laçi lost 2–1. In the returning leg, he scored an 89th-minute header to give Laçi the 1–0 home win and progression to next round through away goal rule.
Uzuni's final match for the team occurred on 31 August 2018 in the 1–1 draw versus Skënderbeu where he scored the opener with a powerful shot inside the penalty area.

NK Lokomotiva

On 3 September 2018, Uzuni moved for the first time aboard and joined the Croatian club NK Lokomotiva by signing a four-year contract. Laçi reportedly earned €350,000 which Lokomotiva will pay in two installments. He took squad number 21, and made his competitive debut on 16 September in the 5–2 hammering of Slaven Belupo, setting up a goal. His maiden goal for the club came in his third league appearance, a 3–0 win at Gorica.

International career

Youth

Following some impressive performances in the Albanian Superliga with Apolonia, he received his first international call up by Albania under-21s head coach Skënder Gega in the squad from home league Albanian Superliga to participate in for a 3-days mini preparatory stage in Durrës, Albania from 22–25 February 2015.
He was called up then in March 2015 for the opening 2017 UEFA U21 Championship qualifier against Liechtenstein on 28 March 2015. He was given the number 10 shirt for his international debut and he started in midfield. He played the full 90 minutes in the 2–0 away victory to get Albania off to a winning start thanks to the goals of Rey Manaj and Liridon Latifi.
Later on 20 May 2016, Uzuni scored his first goal with under-21 side in a friendly against Czech Republic, netting his team's only goal in the 1–1 draw.

Senior

Uzuni received his first senior call-up on 2 October 2018 by manager Christian Panucci for the friendly against Jordan and the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C match against Israel.

Personal life

In December 2017, Uzuni unveiled that his inspiration is Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Laçi