Biography
Who is Shkodran Mustafi?
Early life and youth career
Shkodran Mustafi was born on April 17, 1992, in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. He grew up in a family of ethnic Albanian heritage originating from Gostivar. Shkodran started playing football in the youth system of local club 1. FC Bebra and later spent time with SV Rotenburg before joining the youth setup of Hamburger SV in 2006.
In May 2009, Shkodran moved to English club Everton and joined their academy team. He made his competitive debut for Everton in December 2009 during a UEFA Europa League match against BATE Borisov by replacing Tony Hibbert from the bench in the seventy-fifth minute.
Club career highlights
In January 2012, Shkodran moved to Italian Serie B side Sampdoria on a free transfer to find more regular playing time. He helped Sampdoria return to Serie A during his time in Italy and scored his first professional goal against Atalanta at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. He later signed a five-year deal with Spanish club Valencia in August 2014, where he scored multiple goals including a brace against Villarreal.
Shkodran joined English Premier League club Arsenal in August 2016 for a fee reported to be in excess of thirty-five million pounds. During his time at Arsenal, he won the FA Cup in 2017 and 2020, though he missed several finals due to injury or illness. He later played for Schalke 04 in Germany and Levante in Spain before retiring from playing to become an assistant coach for the German under-seventeen national team.
International career
Eligible to represent Germany, North Macedonia, and Albania, Shkodran played for his country of birth at youth level and won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2009. He made his full international debut for the Germany men's national team in a friendly match against Poland on May 13, 2014.
Shkodran was selected for the German squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, appearing in several matches before suffering a muscle injury against Algeria. He also competed at UEFA Euro 2016, where he scored his first international goal against Ukraine, and was part of the squad that won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
Personal life
Shkodran holds both German and Albanian citizenship and is a practising Muslim. In July 2016, he married Vjosa Kaba in Gostivar. The couple have a daughter named Noemi, who was born in July 2017, and a son named Amar, who was born in January 2019.
Standing at one hundred eighty-four centimeters tall, Shkodran also became part of a special collaboration between the German Football Association and The LEGO Group in 2016, featuring as a collectible minifigure in a Europe-exclusive series.
Birthday and age
Shkodran Mustafi was born on April 17, 1992, which makes Shkodran 34 years old today. That birthday falls under the Aries sign. Shkodran shares the date with 33 other famous people.
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