Armando Sadiku

Early career

Born in Cërrik, Elbasan, Sadiku started his youth career aged 7 with a local club Fushë Mbreti from where he moved later at the youth ranks of his boyhood club Turbina, making his professional debut in the Kategoria e Parë whereas he played during the two seasons 2007–08 and 2008–09.

Gramozi

In the summer of the 2009, Sadiku completed a transfer to newly promoted Kategoria Superiore side Gramozi, owned by the brother of Albanian oil tycoon Rezart Taci; it was the club's first ever top flight season. He made his first top flight appearance on 23 August at the age of 18 in the opening matchday against Shkumbini which ended in a goalless draw, with Sadiku coming on in the second half. He opened his scoring account on 19 September in matchday 4 versus Skënderbeu, netting a tap-in for the temporary equalizer in an eventual 4–1 away loss. One week later, Sadiku was again on the scoresheet as Gramozi recorded their first ever Kategoria Superiore win by beating Flamurtari. Sadiku finished his only Gramozi season by scoring 8 goals in 28 league appearances, as Gramori was relegated after only one season.

Elbasani

During the summer transfer window, Sadiku signed for his hometown club Elbasani. During the 2010–11 season first-half he played 14 matches and scored 5 goals. He made his debut with the club on 22 August 2010 during the opening league match against Tirana at home, playing 75 minutes in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal of the…

Youth teams

Sadiku was called up at the Albania national under-19 football team by coach Ramadan Shehu for a double friendly match against Cyprus U19 on 20 & 21 October 2009. In both games he played as a starter and was substituted off in the second half. He was included in Ramadan Shehu's Albania U19 squad for their 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Sadiku participated with the Albania under-21 side coached by Artan Bushati in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification. In the 2nd round match against Moldova U21 on 7 September 2011 he scored two goals as a half-time substitute to help Albania to win 4–3 after coming from behind and to earn their first points of the campaign. He followed this by scoring another two goals against Poland on 11 October but this did not suffice as Albania lost away 4–3. Then in the next month November he scored another brace against Portugal to give Albania a 2–2 draw and taking his tally to 6 goals in his first 5 games. Albania ended campaign collecting 5 points in 8 games and was ranked last but Sadiku with his 6 goals concluded the group as top goalscorer.

Senior team

New Albania senior team coach Gianni De Biasi, called up Sadiku for his first match as a head coach, a friendly against Georgia on 29 February 2012 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. He made his senior international debut in the game, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for goalscorer and fellow debutant Edgar Çani in…

Club

As of match played 8 January 2025

International

As of 7 September 2024

As of 25 March 2019. Albania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Sadiku's goal.

Sadiku was born in the municipality of Elbasan Country. His father, Durim, is from Trebisht, Albania and his mother from Podujevë, Kosovo. Sadiku is related to Taulant and Granit Xhaka through his mother. His brother, Sherif Sadiku, is also a professional footballer who plays for Shkumbini in the Kategoria e Parë. Sadiku has cited his role model and favourite footballer the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, and is also fan of Italian club Internazionale. Sadiku has a Bulgarian passport. He is also known to be a supporter of Socialist Party of Albania, having taken part in the 2013 and 2017 electoral campaigns. Following Albania's historic participation at UEFA Euro 2016, Sadiku was among the members of the national team who were issued diplomatic passports by the Albanian government in recognition of their achievement. On 30 December 2016, Sadiku was named "Honorary Citizen" of Elbasan for his contributions to sports. On 9 January 2018, Sadiku was engaged to Elona, a Kosovo Albanian dentist and fan of his, who he met via Facebook.