Well well well, would you look at this? It appears we have opportunity to discuss the story of Nedim Bajrami, a lad who appeared on this earth on 28 February 1999. As of now, he's knocking around at the ripe old age of 27. He emerged from the shadowy plains of Macedonia, and somewhat ludicrously, finds himself these days cavorting as a central attacking midfielder at Rangers. He's a modest 5ft 10in in the old money (or 1.79m for those misguided souls attached to metric).
In terms of his fighting weight, he’s hoisting around 10st 9lb of pure footballer (or 68kg, for those of you with a penchant for petite weights). And you can't miss him, gamely galloping around the Glaswegian green in his number 14 jersey. The lad's even had a whirl with the Albania national team.
Now this is where it gets mildly amusing. According to Transfermarkt, this Bajrami lad is apparently worth around £2.1m. One must ponder how such a figure is truly measured. I suppose his goal amassing abilities do give some colour to that price tag.
Venture back to the quaint summer of 2009 and we find the young tyke joining Grasshoppers in the Super League in Switzerland as a trainee. Oh, those were the days, weren't they? Over his three seasons at Grasshoppers, Bajrami gradually became more embedded in the first team, making 69 appearances and scoring a total of nine goals.
Fast forward to the sweltering August of 2019, as Bajrami abandons his Swiss sanctuary and heads south to Italy. He lands at Empoli, for the meagre sum of just over £0.4m. He certainly hit his stride there, making 118 appearances and scoring a water cooler worthy sixteen goals across four seasons.
He then decides to loan himself out in January 2023 to Sassuolo, situated a bit further towards the heel of Italy's boot. Just six months later, Sassuolo chose to snag him for full time, doling out a relatively hefty £4.4m. Over three years and one short loan term with Sassuolo, Nedim made 66 appearances and cemented his reputation with four goals.
In a twist of fate, he then found himself shipped off to the rocky coasts of Scotland joining Rangers in August 2024 for £3 million. He continues to annoy opposition defenders, with 40 appearances and three goals to his name, much to the Rangers’ fans jubilation.
Our boy Nedim has also dipped his toes into other vessels. He’s served his time in the League Cup for Rangers, shuffling in one goal in his sole appearance. For the World Cup Qualifiers Europe gig for Albania, he managed to pull off three starts with an additional four substitute appearances. Meanwhile, his Champions League Qualifiers shuffle for Rangers comes in at three substitute performances.
So there you have it, the film reel thus far of Nedim Bajrami. Not a tragic tale, but not a ballad worthy of Celtic Park either. He's a footballer, which is more than can be said for some.
