Valmir Nafiu
Macedonian footballer (born 1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valmir Nafiu (Macedonian: Валмир Нафиу;[1] born 23 April 1994) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays mainly as a winger or striker for Malisheva.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 April 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Tetovo, Macedonia | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Malisheva | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Shkëndija | |||
| 2012 | Basel | ||
| 2012–2013 | Hamburger SV | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2011 | Shkëndija | 19 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Basel | 0 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Hamburger SV II | 12 | (4) |
| 2013–2015 | Hamburger SV | 2 | (0) |
| 2015 | APOEL | 10 | (1) |
| 2016 | Skënderbeu | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Renova | 62 | (11) |
| 2018–2023 | Shkëndija | 108 | (12) |
| 2023 | → FC Košice (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2024 | Otrant-Olympic | 9 | (2) |
| 2024-2026 | Ferizaj | 31 | (5) |
| 2026- | Malisheva | 2 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Macedonia U17 | 16 | (11) | |
| Macedonia U19 | 5 | (1) | |
| 2013–2015 | Macedonia U21 | 6 | (0) |
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 February 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 11 June 2015 | |||
Club career
Shkëndija
At the end of his debuting season, Nafiu garnered interest from FC Basel and FC Barcelona.[2]
He went on trial where he impressed the Swiss club and Basel and Shkëndija reached a deal for Nafiu to remain in Switzerland before officially completing the transfer once he turned eighteen.
Basel
Nafiu officially joined on 23 April 2012, on his eighteenth birthday. He mainly played for the youth teams at Basel and was not capped at senior level. At Basel, Nafiu trained under Thorsten Fink.[3]
Hamburger SV
When Fink left Basel and took the managerial position at Hamburger SV, Nafiu followed suit. In 2012, Nafiu made his debut for Hamburg's reserve team. He made his Bundesliga debut at 25 October 2014 against Hertha BSC replacing Pierre-Michel Lasogga after 74 minutes in a 3–0 away defeat.[4] He added a further Bundesliga appearance against VfL Wolfsburg on 9 November 2014,[5] before he mutually terminated his contract with Hamburger SV in January 2015.
APOEL
On 27 January 2015, Nafiu signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with contract with Cypriot club APOEL FC.[6] He made his official debut on 31 January 2015, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute in APOEL's 1–0 away victory against Nea Salamina in the Cypriot First Division.[7] He scored his first official goal for APOEL on 21 March 2015, in his team's 2–2 home draw against Apollon Limassol in the First Division play-offs.[8] In his first season at APOEL, he appeared in twelve matches in all competitions and helped his team to win both the league title and the 2014–15 Cypriot Cup.[9]
On 18 December 2015, APOEL announced that Nafiu's contract with the club was terminated by mutual consent.[10]
Skënderbeu
In early 2016 Nafiu joined Albanian side Skënderbeu, winning the 2015–16 league title but playing very little.[11]
Renova
Nafiu returned to his native North Macedonia in summer 2016, signing with Renova.[11] Over two seasons, he became a regular starter scoring 11 goals.[11]
Shkëndija
Nafiu's performances for Renova attracted the attentions of his youth club Shkëndija and he returned to the club in 2018, winning the league title in his first season there.[11]
Career statistics
- As of 20 April 2015[12]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental[a] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Shkëndija | 2010–11 | Macedonian First League | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | Macedonian First League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| FC Basel | 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hamburger SV II | 2012–13 | Regionalliga Nord | 12 | 1 | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Hamburger SV | 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| APOEL | 2014–15 | Cypriot First Division | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |
| 2015–16 | Cypriot First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 43 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 3 | ||
- Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
Honours
Shkëndija
APOEL
