Pajtim Kasami

Pajtim Kasami (born 2 June 1992) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Olympiacos and the Switzerland national team.

Born in Zürich, Switzerland to an ethnic Albanian family from Struga from Republic of Macedonia, Kasami started his career in 2003 with Swiss club Winterthur before he joined Grasshoppers in Zürich in 2006. In the same year, he also briefly played for Liverpool on loan. On 2 February 2009, at age 16, he moved to Lazio in the Italian Serie A. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Kasami was reported absent without leave and was due to play for the reserves that season.

Bellinzona

In December 2009, Kasami returned to Switzerland to play for Bellinzona, signing a contract until 2011. He made his professional debut in March after his free transfer was cleared by Swiss Football Association. Lazio terminated his contract after Kasami failed to appear on several training sessions in the youth teams or first team, and it was due to his indiscipline that Lazio did not want to sell buy his rights from Grasshopper.

Palermo

On 7 June 2010 Palermo announced they had signed the midfielder in a 5-year contract from Bellinzona. Despite his young age, he was immediately included in the first team and made his debut with a rosanero jersey as a second-half substitute in the first leg of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League play-off against Maribor. He then made his Serie A debut later on 30 August, playing the entire home league game against Cagliari, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He concluded the season with 24 appearances: 14 in the league, 8 in Europa League and 2 in Coppa Italia. Zamparini hailed Kasami as "the new Pastore".

Fulham

On 25 July 2011 Kasami signed for Fulham on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Pajtim Kasami made his début for Fulham as a late substitute in the 0–0 draw in their Europa League clash with RNK Split. He was later in the starting line-up versus Dnipro on 18 August 2011, playing for 88 minutes and was greatly involved in the set up of all the 3 goals. Kasami made his Premier League début on 21 August 2011 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium. Fulham lost the match 2–0.

Kasami almost joined Pescara on loan on 1 January 2013, but the move could not be finalised in time due to a bad internet connection. Kasami joined Luzern on loan until the end of the 2012–2013 season on 15 February 2013. He made his debut in the 4–0 away defeat to St. Gallen on 24 February 2013. He scored his first goal for Luzern in the 4–3 away victory over Servette FC in the final game of the 2012–13 season on 1 June 2013. Following his loan spell with Luzern came to an end, Manager Martin Jol revealed Kasami took a fifty per cent cut of his wage to stay at the club. He scored Fulham's first goal of the 2013–14 Premier League season in a 1–0 away victory against Sunderland. Kasami then scored his second goal of the season against Crystal Palace on 21 October; a dipping volley from the edge of the area, in a match that eventually ended a 4–1 away win to Fulham. This goal was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal of the year, the only one nominated from the Premier League. A third was added with a deflected free kick in a 2–1 win at Norwich on 26 December 2013.

Olympiacos

It was announced on 9 July 2014 that Kasami had signed for Olympiacos for a fee of €5 million. On 23 August 2014 he netted his first goal in his official debut as a player of Olympiacos in a 3–1 home win against Niki Volou. He scored again on 30 August 2014 against Panetolikos in a 1–1 away draw. On 22 October 2014, Olympiakos pulled off one of the surprises of the Champions League night when they beat Juventus 1–0 in Piraeus with a first-half goal from Pajtim Kasami. Kasami’s goal came in the 36th minute after constant pressure from the home team which saw them deservedly record their second victory in the group. “I feel great for the win and we worked hard for the three points. This gives us confidence for the remaining matches in the group,” Kasami said. On 22 February 2015, Kasami experienced one of the most traumatic shocks in his life after the derby against Panathinaikos. "It was a traumatic experience, I hope it doesn't happen to anybody else", the 22-year-old Swiss said. "I couldn't sleep for days. They had told me that these things happen in a derby, but they forget that I am just 22. Fortunately I had the support of my family and my agent. Mino Raiola came to Athens to help me recover." On 11 March 2015, Olympiakos's Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira and Kasami were fined for their behavior after the team's Greek Cup quarter-final 1–0 win over AEK. The disciplinary committee of the Greek soccer federation fined Pereira 9,000 euros and Kasami was ordered to pay 7,000 euros for making gestures to the crowd which incited trouble.

After a successful 2014–15, which ended with double conquest, several reports in Italy are keep insisting that Kasami was likely to move to a Serie A club and it is believed that Fiorentina or Inter were the most favourable destination. Despite a serious interest from Fiorentina , Bayer Leverkusen and lately from Roma, Kasami did not complete his transfer on the deadline day. He scored his first goal for the 2015–16 season in a hammering 5–1 win against PAS Giannina.

On 2 October 2015, media source stated that Olympiacos former manager Vitor Pereira and midfielder Kasami were prosecuted for provoking episodes in the Greek Cup semi final against AEK Athens. The Deputy Prosecutor Giorgos Lainis prosecuted Pajtim Kasami and Vitor Pereira. Αt the same time, the Football prosecutor former Sports Prosecutor Konstantinos Simitzglou had begun preliminary examination by calling witnesses in order to combine his case with the prosecution. The two men were close to facing criminal responsibilities and even go to trial.

Nottingham Forest

On August 3, 2016 Kasami became Nottingham Forest's seventh signing of the summer when he joined the reds on a twelve-month loan deal from Olympiacos. On 27 August 2016, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home win against Leeds United F.C. According to English sources, Pajtim Kasami who is on loan at Nottingham Forest has expressed his wish to return to Olympiakos in January transfer window. The Swiss midfielder is on loan at Nottingham Forest since the start of the season but he is not happy at the City Ground. The former Fulham star has failed to hit the heights that were expected of him when brought to Nottingham by French manager Philippe Montanier, who has since been sacked.On 14 February 2017, Kasami's half-volley gave Forest an early lead in a 3-2 away loss against Fulham F.C.

On 5 May 2017, Nottingham Forest announced that Kasami had returned to Olympiacos.

Kasami was part of the Swiss under-17 team that won the 2009 World Cup. Whilst at Bellinzona, he earned a call-up to the Switzerland U21 team along with teammates Alessandro Ciarrocchi and Frank Feltscher, making his debut against Georgia U21 on 30 May 2010. Kasami was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team. He played over 90 minutes in all three games in the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their Group. He made his debut for the Swiss senior team in a 1–0 win against Slovenia on 15 October 2013 and scored his first goal on 15 November 2013 in a friendly 2–1 defeat against South Korea. He scored his first competitive goal against San Marino to put Switzerland up 5–0 in an eventual 7–0 win.

Club

International goals

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 November 2013	Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	1–2	Friendly
2.	9 October 2015	AFG Arena, St. Gallen, Switzerland	San Marino	5–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Club

• Superleague Greece: 2014–15, 2015–16
• Greek Football Cup: 2014–15; Runner-up: 2015–16

International

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2009