Loret Sadiku

Loret Sadiku (born 28 July 1991) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Helsingborgs IF.

Early life Born in SFR Yugoslavia, Sadiku was raised in Sweden and started to play youth football with local club Hånger IF in Värnamo. In 2003, he joined the youth setup of IFK Värnamo, the town's biggest club.

Club career IFK Värnamo In 2009, Sadiku was promoted to Värnamo's first team and made his professional debut in Ettan, Sweden's third tier. He was part of what would be known as a golden generation in the history of the club, together with players like Viktor Claesson, Simon Thern, Niklas Hult and Joseph Baffo. In 2010, Värnamo won a promotion to Superettan.

In 2011, led by head coach Jonas Thern, Värnamo finished 13th in the Superettan table. Sadiku made 29 league appearances, scoring twice, and appeared in both relegation play-off legs against Väsby United, which the club won by 3–0 on aggregate.

Helsingborgs IF On 20 January 2012, Sadiku transferred to Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF. Two months later, he won the 2012 Svenska Supercupen with the club, through a 2–0 win against AIK. As defending Swedish champions, Helsingborg finished 6th in Allsvenskan, in which Sadiku made 19 appearances.

In 2013, Sadiku played 27 league games, scoring twice, as Helsingborg finished 5th in the Allsvenskan table. Halfway through the 2014 season, after making 11 league appearances, Sadiku sought a move elsewhere and reportedly attracted interest from rival Malmö FF.

Turkish Süper Lig On 28 June 2014, Sadiku signed a three-year contract with Mersin İdman Yurdu, newly promoted to the Turkish Süper Lig, together with Abdul Khalili from Helsingborg.

On 17 August 2016, Sadiku transferred to Kasımpaşa for a fee of €2 million, signing a three-year contract. On 12 January 2019, Sadiku signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

Hammarby IF On 18 February 2022, Sadiku signed a three-year contract with Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, thus returning to Sweden after eight years abroad. Sadiku featured in the final of the 2021–22 Svenska Cupen, in which Hammarby lost by 4–5 on penalties to Malmö FF after the game ended in a 0–0 draw. In early July, Sadiku tested positive for COVID-19 and suffered from persistent symptoms that kept him sidelined for almost two months. He ended the season making 21 league appearances, helping his side to finish 3rd in the 2022 Allsvenskan table.

Kosovo On 2 March 2014, Sadiku received a call-up from Kosovo for the nation's first permitted by FIFA match against Haiti and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Career statistics Club