Azdren Llullaku

Azdren Gani Llullaku (born 15 February 1988) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

Llullaku was born on 15 February 1988 in Istok.

Due to the Kosovo War, aged 12 Llullaku moved to Italy along with his mother and his brother, settling in Tarzo in the Province of Treviso, Veneto.

He began his youth career with A.C. Vallata 1999, a team of the third category, the lowest level of "amateur" football in Italy.

In the regional competitions, Llullaku revealed himself to be a talented goalscorer and he was recruited by Denis Florin, sporting director of Conegliano, which played in Eccellenza at that time.

Llullaku accepted with enthusiasm and in the 2005–06 season, he started playing with the juniors team, and after ten matches, in December 2005 he transitioned into the senior team by Umberto Trinca and at 17, he scored three goals in 18 matches, helping to avoid a difficult relegation but especially stood out as a player deserving to be a professional.

He moved into Serie D, joining A.S.D. Sacilese Calcio in 2006.

In the 2006–07 Season he made a total of 31 appearances and scored eight goals.

In the summer of 2007, Llullaku joined Serie C2 side Südtirol.

In the 2007–08 season he made a total of 12 appearances.

In 2008, he joined Serie D side Domegliara.

In the 2008–09 season he made a total of 33 appearances and scored 11 goals.

He returned in 2009 to the previous team Sacilese in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (previous name Serie C2) but didn't made any appearances for entire 2009–10 season due to the law that prohibits the enrollment of non-EU citizens.

This made him move to Tamai in Serie D. In the 2010–11 season, he made a total of 33 appearances and scored 22 goals.

In February, he was elected by the statistics of the Corriere dello Sport as the best striker in the Serie D and is placed in the Top 11 Serie D.

In 2011, he joined fellow Venetian team SandonàJesolo.

On 25 September 2011, Llullaku scored by penalty the opening goal in the victory 2–0 against San Giorgio.

Later on 18 December, Llullaku scored hat-trick to give the clean 3–0 victory SandonàJesolo against I.S.M. Gradisca.

In the 2011–12 season he made a total of 30 appearances and scored 13 goals.

SandonàJesolo finished in the 6th place in the final rank and qualified for the fourth round of the Promotion play-off as the finalist of 2011–12 Coppa Italia Serie D and were shorted to play against Arezzo.

Llullaku also managed to play in the Coppa Italia Serie D with SandonàJesolo in the 2011–12 season.

SandonàJesolo played in a two-legged match for the semi-final against Bogliasco and the first leg was won by the 1–0 home result, then in the second leg SandonàJesolo lost by the 2–1 result and they qualified due to the away goals rule, where the only away goal was scored by Llullaku himself.

They advanced to the final and Llullaku also played in a 2–1 loss for the cup final match against Sant'Antonio Abate.

At the end of the 2011–12 season many professional clubs like Cremonese and Pordenone wanted to buy Llullaku but his foreign players status didn't help him.

First play-off match against Arezzo played on 27 May 2012 finished in the goalless draw, and then was decided by penalty shoot-out as SandonàJesolo won it by 3–4 result.

SandonàJesolo advanced to the semi-finals where they played against Legnago Salus on 3 June 2012 and won the match with the 2–0 result, in which also Llullaku scored the closing goal in the 51st minute after an personally attack himself.

SandonàJesolo managed to get in the final and they played against Cosenza, where Llullaku scored the second goal advantage but not enough to win the game as Cosenza came from behind to win the match by the 3–2 result.

After spending 6 years in Italy, on 24 July 2012 after a trial, Llullaku signed for Romanian top division side Gaz Metan Mediaș.

Llulaku made his competitive debut on 24 August 2012 during the league match against Turnu Severin, coming on as a substitute in an eventual 2–0 home win.

He netted his first goal for the team on 1 December in the match against CFR Cluj, giving his team a 1–1 draw.

Llullaku started 2013 by scoring a goal in team's 3–1 win over Gloria Bistrița on 22 February, which was followed by a brace in the 4–1 home win against Viitorul Constanța.

Llullaku was again decisive for his team by scoring the lone goal in the match against Concordia Chiajna, giving his team three important points.

That was his final strike of the season, as he finished it by playing 22 matches between league and cup, scoring five in the process.

Lullaku lost his place in the starting lineup during the 2013–14 season, making only nine league starts.

He scored his first goal of the season on 26 July in the league encounter against Botoșani, finished in a 1–2 defeat.

On 25 September 2013, he scored twice in Gaz Metan Mediaș' 0–4 win over Petrolul Ploiești in the Romanian Cup.

The 2013–14 season was a bad one for Llullaku; he scored only one league goal in 28 appearances, in addition two Romanian Cup goals in two matches.

Llullaku started 2014–15 season by playing the entire match against Pandurii Târgu Jiu for the quarter-finals of 2014–15 Romanian Cup, which finished in a 1–0 defeat in extra-time.

He made his first league appearance for this season on 27 July 2014 in the 3–0 away win over Botoșani.

Lullaku scored his first goal of the season on 8 August, a last-minute equalizer against Rapid București in the matchday 3 to give his side a 1–1 draw.