Arsen Sykaj

Early career

Born in Shkodër, Sykaj is a product of the Vllaznia Shkodër academy, where he took his first steps into football by joining his hometown club in 1997 at the age of 8. He progressed through the youth ranks at the club and eventually played for the under-17s before joining the under-19s, where he became a key player and impressed the coaches enough to earn him a call up to the senior team in 2007 to train with the first team players whilst still playing for the under-19s side.

Tërbuni Pukë

Sykaj was loaned out to Albanian First Division side Tërbuni Pukë at the beginning of the 2008–09 season in order to gain first team experience. Upon his arrival at Tërbuni he immediately became an important first team player as a centre back. His loan deal at the club expired prematurely in March 2009 following Tërbuni Pukë's disqualification from the First Division, thus leading to Sykaj's return to his parent club Vllaznia.

Vllaznia

Following his return to Vllaznia, Sykaj became a first team player and he featured in 16 games during the 2009–10 season, 11 of which were substitute appearances. He also featured in Vllaznia's Albanian Cup run, which saw his side finish as runners-up, after being defeated by Besa Kavajë in the final. Sykaj played in the first leg of the quarter-finals as well as the second leg of the semi-finals, but did not feature in the final. The following season, he established himself further as a first team player, featuring in…

Youth team

Sykaj has been a former Albanian international, having represented under-19, -20 and -21.

Senior team

Sykaj was first called up to the senior Albania team on 30 September 2011 by Josip Kuže for the last two Euro 2012 qualifying games against France and Romania.