Mërgim Mavraj

Mërgim Mavraj is a German-Albanian footballer born on 9 June 1986 in Hanau.

Mërgim started to play football at Sportfreunde Seligenstadt. Then he had spells in Kickers Offenbach and SG Rosenhöhe Offenbach youth systems before joining the U-19 side of SV Darmstadt 98 in 2004. The 2005/2006 season was marked by Mavraj’s promotion to the senior squad. The footballer was one of the most popular players in the club; however, in 2007 he switched to VfL Bochum. His first team debut came on 10 May 2008 in the match versus Karlsruher SC.

Mërgim Mavraj played his first game for the Germany youth national team in February 2007 against Italy. Being fielded in the 67th minute, he helped his team to hold a goalless draw.

On 5 January Mërgim moved to Greuther Fürth. Since August 2012 he has been wearing captain’s armband. The player has both German and Albanian citizenships, which allowed him to represent Albania at international level. Mavraj made his senior international debut on 22 May 2012 in a 2-1 victory over Qatar. In total, during his career the defender has earned about 150 appearances netting 5 goals.