Drilon Islami

Drilon Islami has spent much of 2025 finding out how quickly a promising move can go wrong. Signed by CFR Cluj as a free agent, he never got on the pitch: not a single start, one solitary appearance on the bench, and by October the club's manager, Dan Petrescu, had already terminated his contract.

Before that, Islami's career had a steadier shape. He came through the academy at Ferizaj, before moving to Drita in 2019. There he won the Kosovan championship in 2019/20 and the following year. A brief return to Ferizaj in early 2023 lasted half a season before he joined Prishtina as a free agent, where his role grew quickly: he became captain, was named Player of the Week in the 2023/24 league campaign, and helped the club win the Kosovan Cup in 2024/25 and the Super Cup in 2023, adding up to 62 appearances and three goals.

After the Cluj episode, Islami returned briefly to Kosovo with Balkani before moving on again in January 2026, this time to North Macedonia's Shkëndija. By June 2026 he had made 16 appearances and scored once for the club, including outings in the UEFA Conference League.

He has represented Kosovo at under-21 level but has yet to earn a senior cap.