Erion Hoxhallari

Erion Hoxhallari (born 15 October 1995 in Korçë) is an Albanian footballer who plays as a defender for Tirana in the Albanian Superliga.

Early career

Hoxhallari started his youth career at KF Tirana. On 1 July 2011 he was loaned out at Austrian side Grazer AK for a half season.

Tirana

Hoxhallari made his professional debut for Tirana on 23 November 2011 in the cup tie against Apolonia Fier, playing full-90 minutes in a 3–0 home win. That was his first and only appearance of the 2011–12 season. Hoxhallari found more opportunities in the 2012–13 season, making his league debut on 13 April 2013 in a 2–1 deficit at Kukësi. In the 2013–14 season, Hoxhallari continued to get limited opportunities, as he made only nine league appearances, eight of them as starter.

Loan to Teuta Durrës

On 29 August 2014, Hoxhallari was transferred to Teuta Durrës on a long season loan from Tirana along with Ardit Peposhi. Initially Hoxhallari struggeled to play as he did not leave the bench for the first four league matches. On 1 October, he made his debut by scoring the team's first goal of the 2–0 away win against Besëlidhja Lezhë in the first leg of 2014–15 Albanian Cup first round. Four days later Hoxhallari made his league debut in a 1–0 away defeat to Kukësi, playing full-90 minutes. Following the debut, Hoxhallari established himself in the starting lineup, and went to play another 25 league matches until the end of the season as Teuta Durrës barely avoided the relegation to Albanian First Division.

Return to Tirana

On 1 June 2015, he returned in training with Tirana after the end of loan. He made his first appearance of the season on 29 August in team's second league match of the season against Laçi, where he entered in the pitch on the last 15 minutes as Tirana found the equalizer in the very last moments. With Shkëlqim Muça in charge, Hoxhallari was used mostly as a substitute, and during his tenure at the club, Hoxhallari played only one league match as a starter, the 2–0 home win against his previous side Teuta Durrës on 26 September. With the arrival of the new coach Ilir Daja, Hoxhallari become an undisputed starter and went to play as a started in every league game until the end of the season, as Tirana remained out of European competitions for the fourth straight season. He was praised for his performances on the back and on 31 May was named one of the talents of the year.

On 14 July 2016, Hoxhallari agreed a contract extension with the club, signing until June 2018. He scored his first league goal for Tirana on 6 November in the matchday 10 against his former side Teuta Durrës, contributing in a 3–1 home win.

He has been a former youth international of Albania, playing with under-15, -17, -19 and -21 levels.

Hoxhallari was called up for the first time in under-21 squad by the coach Skënder Gega for the qualifiers of the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where Albania was placed in the Group 4. He made his competitive debut with the under-21 side on 28 March 2015 in team's first group match against Liechtenstein, playing in the second half in an eventual 2–0 away win. Hoxhallari was called up by a new appointed coach, Redi Jupi, for the next qualifying matches against Israel and Portugal on 3 and 8 September 2015. He played full-90 minutes in the 1–1 home draw against Israel, and was benched in the 1–6 home defeat against Portugal. On 28 March 2016, during the match against Hungary, Hoxhallari made a high profile error which resulted in Hungary's only goal of the match, but Albania bounced back and scored twice inside of 10 minutes for a 2–1 home win.

• Albanian Superliga Talent of the Season: 3rd in 2015–16 season