Valon Behrami

Valon Behrami is a Swiss footballer of Albanian descent born on 19 April 1985 in Titova Mitrovica, Albania. He currently plays as a midfielder for Italian club Napoli.

Groomed in the youth ranks of Stabio, Valon joined the youth side of FC Chiasso in 1997 and then Lugano in 2000. In 2002, he was promoted to Lugano’s first team. In the 2003/04 season, Behrami moved to Italian then-Serie B club Genoa. After a successful season-long loan at Verona, a promising footballer was noticed by Lazio scouts and eventually signed for the club in the summer 2005. Behrami graced Lazio with his 92d minute winning goal in Derby of the capital against Roma on 19 March 2008.

In 2008, English Premier League powerhouse West Ham United bought out Behrami’s contract from Lazio for a fee of £5 million. He soon proved his worth in the midfield and even began the 2008/09 season as backup for captain Lucas Neill. Behrami scored his maiden and winning goal for West Ham in a 1-0 win over Sunderland in November 2008.

In 2011, the Swiss footballer moved to Italy to join Fiorentina from Serie A. He made his debut for the Viola in a 0-2 defeat to his former club Lazio on 29 January 2011.

In the summer 2012, Behrami signed a five-year deal with Napoli.

Valon Behrami is a regular international for the Switzerland national team since 2005. He was a starter in all the games of his team during the 2008 UEFA European Championship.