Aleksandar Trajkovski

Aleksandar Trajkovski (; born 5 September 1992) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Lokomotiva Zagreb and the North Macedonia national team. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a winger or an attacking midfielder.

Club career Trajkovski began his career with FK Cementarnica 55. In May 2010, he joined Chelsea in a trial, scoring the winning goal against Botafogo at the U-19 Copa Amsterdam tournament which guaranteed Chelsea a place in the semi-finals.

After a few years with Cementarnica Skopje, he signed for Inter Zaprešić in the summer of 2010. Good performances in the second half of the season attracted the interest of Dinamo Zagreb, but Trajkovski said that he was not interested in a possible move. At the end of the season, R.S.C. Anderlecht was interested in buying Trajkovski, but their offer of a €500,000 transfer fee was rejected.

In the summer of 2015, he moved to Italian Serie A club Palermo, signing a five-year contract. In the same year, he was named "Macedonian footballer of the year". Following Palermo's exclusion from the Serie B, he was released together with all other players in July 2019.

On 7 August 2019, Trajkovski agreed to a four-year contract with La Liga newcomers RCD Mallorca. After two seasons at Mallorca, Trajkovski was loaned out to Danish Superliga club AaB on 31 August 2021, for the rest of the season.

On 30 January 2022, Trajkovski joined Saudi club Al-Fayha on an 18-month contract. On 19 May 2022, he won the 2022 King Cup Final with Al-Fayha against Al Hilal.

International career On 22 May 2012, the Macedonia U21 national team defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in a friendly match, with the sole goal scored by Trajkovski.

Trajkovski debuted for the Macedonian senior squad on 10 August 2011 in a 1–0 away friendly victory against Azerbaijan. He scored his first goal on 14 August 2013 in a 2–0 home friendly victory against Bulgaria. Trajkovski scored a hat-trick on 12 November 2015 in a 4–1 victory over Montenegro at the Philip II Stadium in Skopje.

Trajkovski was selected for the UEFA Euro 2020 as North Macedonia gained its first major tournament. On 24 March 2022, two minutes into injury time he scored a long-range goal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff semi-finals to beat Italy 1–0 at his former club ground in Palermo, eliminating Italy from the FIFA World Cup for a second consecutive time.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Al-Fayha King Cup: 2021–22