| Iljasa Zulfiu | |
| Full Name: | Iljasa Zulfiu |
| Birth Date: | 27 March 1998[1] |
| Birth Place: | Miratovac, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia |
| Height: | 1.67 m |
| Position: | Second striker |
| Currentclub: | Zhenis |
| Clubnumber: | 19 |
| Youthyears1: | 2008–2015 |
| Youthclubs1: | Lugina |
| Youthyears2: | 2015–2017 |
| Youthclubs2: | Radnik Surdulica |
| Years1: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs1: | Radnik Surdulica |
| Caps1: | 1 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2017 |
| Clubs2: | → Pukovac (loan) |
| Caps2: | 6 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs3: | → Ozren Sokobanja (loan) |
| Caps3: | 29 |
| Goals3: | 6 |
| Years4: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs4: | Flamurtari |
| Caps4: | 1 |
| Goals4: | 2 |
| Years5: | 2019–2021 |
| Clubs5: | Malisheva |
| Years6: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs6: | Laçi |
| Caps6: | 30 |
| Goals6: | 2 |
| Years7: | 2022–2024 |
| Clubs7: | Dukagjini |
| Caps7: | 51 |
| Goals7: | 7 |
| Years8: | 2024– |
| Clubs8: | Zhenis |
| Caps8: | 4 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 6 April 2024 |
Iljasa Zulfiu (Serbian: Иљаса Зулфији|Iljasa Zulfiji, Albanian: Ilaz Zylfiu; born 27 March 1998) is a Serbian professional footballer of Albanian descent who plays as a second striker for Kazakhstani club Zhenis.[1]
Born in Miratovac, a small town in the municipality of Preševo as a member of Albanian ethnic group,[2] Zulfiu started playing football at the age of 10.[3] He was playing with football club Lugina, based in Aliđerce,[4] until he joined Radnik Surdulica as a youngster.[2] After almost two years with youth team, Zulfiu signed a one-year scholarship contract with Radnik in February 2017.[5] He was also loaned on dual registration to the Serbian League East side Pukovac,[6] making six appearances until the end of the 2016–17 campaign.[7]
In summer 2017, Zulfiu joined the first team of Radnik Surdulica under coach Simo Krunić,[8] but moved on new loan deal to Ozren Sokobanja shortly after.[9] He scored his premier goal for the first season victory of Ozren over Timok on 16 September 2017.[4] After the whole first-half season in the third-ranked league, a loan deal was terminated and Zulfiu returned to Radnik ending of November same year.[10]
On 29 November 2017, Zulfiu made his official debut for Radnik Surdulica, replacing Miloš Stanković in 69 minute of the Serbian SuperLiga match against Red Star Belgrade.[11] He has been reported as the first Albanian footballer in the club history since finding in 1926.[12] In February 2018, Zulfiu signed his first four-your professional contract with Radnik,[13] after which he extended his loan deal to Ozren until the end of 2017–18 campaign.[14]
Returning from loan deal in summer 2018, Zulfiu started new season preparing under coach Mladen Dodić,[15] but after being excluded from the 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga player list, Zulfiu mutually terminated the contract and left Radnik as a free agent on the last day of July same year, along with teammate Krsta Đorđević.[16]
Zulfiu is a 1.67 m high attacker, who usually plays as a second striker or attacking midfielder.[4] He is characterized by speed and lucidity, affirmed as a goalscorer in the Serbian League East.[17] He has also promoted himself as a free kick taker, scoring in a match against Jedinstvo Paraćin.[18] [19] He is often compared with Fadil Vokrri, a former Kosovo Albanian football forward.[4] [9] [17]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Radnik Surdulica | 2016–17 | Serbian SuperLiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18[20] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Pukovac (loan) | 2016–17 | Serbian League East | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Ozren Sokobanja (loan) | 2017–18 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 6 | |||
| Flamurtari | 2018–19 | Kosovo Superleague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Malisheva | 2019–20 | Kosovo First League | Not available | ||||||||
| 2020–21 | |||||||||||
| Total | 36 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 36 | 6 | ||||
| Laçi | 2020–21 | Kategoria Superiore | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 30 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 2 | |||
| Dukagjini | 2022–23 | Kosovo Superleague | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 35 | 4 | ||
| 2023–24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Total | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 39 | 8 | |||
| Career total | 101 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 116 | 16 | |||