Leonard Pllana

Kosovan association football player (born 1996)
Leonard Pllana
Personal information
Full name Leonard Arben Pllana
Date of birth (1996-08-26) 26 August 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Mitrovica, FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Gimpo
Number 11
Youth career
2002–2014 Trepça
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Grebbestad 24 (17)
2016–2018 Dalkurd 37 (5)
2017 → Norrby (loan) 12 (3)
2018–2019 GAIS 37 (4)
2020–2021 Brage 56 (21)
2022–2024 Jeonnam Dragons 66 (14)
2024– Gimpo 12 (3)
International career‡
2017 Kosovo U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 September 2017

Leonard Arben Pllana (born 26 August 1996) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for K League 2 club Gimpo.

Club career

Early career

Pllana at the age of six started playing football in Trepça. On 12 January 2014, he joined Division 2 side Grebbestad.[1] Pllana in July 2015 was on trial at Helsingborg U21, where on 21 July, he played in a league match against Häcken U21 after being named in the starting line-up and scored his side's only goal during a 1–3 home defeat.[2]

Dalkurd

On 10 September 2015, Pllana signed a three-year contract with Superettan club Dalkurd and this transfer would become legally effective in January 2016.[3] On 18 April 2016, he made his debut against Sirius after coming on as a substitute at 65th minute in place of Ahmed Awad and scored his side's second goal during a 1–2 away win.[4]

Loan at Norrby

On 15 July 2017, Pllana joined Superettan side Norrby, on a season-long loan.[5] Seven days later, he made his debut in a 0–3 home defeat against Falkenberg after being named in the starting line-up.[6] Fourteen days after debut, Pllana scored his first goal for Norrby in his third appearance for the club in a 3–2 home win over Helsingborg in Superettan.[7]

GAIS

On 7 August 2018, Pllana signed a one-year contract with Superettan club GAIS.[8] Five days later, he made his debut in a 1–1 away draw against his former club Norrby after being named in the starting line-up.[9]

Brage

On 27 November 2019, Pllana signed a one-year contract with Superettan club Brage and this transfer would become legally effective in January 2020.[10] On 22 February 2020, he made his debut with Brage in the 2019–20 Svenska Cupen group stage against Elfsborg after being named in the starting line-up.[11] Seven days after debut, Pllana scored his first goal for Brage in his second appearance for the club in a 3–3 away draw over Örebro in the 2019–20 Svenska Cupen group stage.[12]

Jeonnam Dragons

On 25 January 2022, Pllana signed a two-year contract with K League 2 club Jeonnam Dragons.[13] Jeonnam Dragons reportedly paid a €400,000 transfer fee.[14] On 19 February 2022, he made his debut in a 1–0 away defeat against Anyang after being named in the starting line-up.[15]

International career

On 21 March 2017, Pllana received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Republic of Ireland U21,[16] and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.[17]

Personal life

Pllana was born in Mitrovica, FR Yugoslavia from Kosovo Albanian parents.[18] His younger brother Bujar Pllana is a footballer who plays as a centre-back.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 July 2022[19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Grebbestad[20] 2014 Division 2 0 0 — 9[a] 11 9 11
2015 24 17 — 3[a] 2 27 19
Total 24 17 — 12 13 36 30
Dalkurd 2016 Superettan 21 3 1 0 — 22 3
2017 11 2 4 1 — 15 3
Norrby (loan) 12 3 1 0 — 13 3
Dalkurd 2018 Allsvenskan 5 0 3 0 — 8 0
Total 49 8 9 1 — 58 9
GAIS 2018 Superettan 11 1 0 0 — 11 1
2019 26 3 0 0 — 26 3
Total 37 4 1 0 — 37 4
Brage 2020 Superettan 28 8 3 2 — 31 10
2021 28 13 5 2 — 33 15
Total 56 21 8 4 — 64 25
Jeonnam Dragons 2022 K League 2 14 5 0 0 6 2 — 20 7
Total 14 5 0 0 6 2 — 20 7
Career total 180 55 18 5 6 2 12 13 216 75
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) with Grebbestad B.[20]

References

  1. ^ "Leonard Pllana, ny spelare i Grebbestad?" [Leonard Pllana, new player in Grebbestad?] (in Swedish). Grebbestads IF. 12 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Helsingborgs U21 vs. Häcken U21 1–3". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Breaking news: Leonard Pllana till Dalkurd efter säsongen" [Breaking news: Leonard Pllana to Dalkurd after the season] (in Swedish). Grebbestads IF. 10 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Sirius vs. Dalkurd 1–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Leonard Pllana lånas in under hösten" [Leonard Pllana will be loaned out during the autumn] (in Swedish). Norrby IF. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Norrby vs. Falkenberg 0–3". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Norrby vs. Helsingborg 3–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Leonard Pllana klar för GAIS" [Leonard Pllana ready for GAIS] (in Swedish). GAIS. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Norrby vs. GAIS 1–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Leo Pllana klar för IK Brage" [Leo Pllana ready for IK Brage] (in Swedish). IK Brage. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Elfsborg vs. Brage 3–0". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Örebro vs. Brage 3–3". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  13. ^ "[오피셜] 전남, 'K리그 최초 코소보 출신' 플라나 영입… 측면+중앙 만능 자원" [[Official] Jeonnam to sign 'K-League's first Kosovo player' Pllana... Side+Central Universal Resources] (in Korean). Besteleven. 25 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Rrugëtimi i veçantë i Pllanës nga Kosova në Championsin aziatik" [Pllana's special journey from Kosovo to the Asian Champions] (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. 25 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Anyang vs. Jeonnam Dragons 1–0". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Lista e futbollistëve të Përfaqësueses U21" [List of the players of national U21 team] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 21 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Kosova U21 e pafat kundër Irlandës, humb me rezultat të ngushtë" [Kosovo U21 unlucky against Ireland, loses with a close result] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 25 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Pojken med drömmarna kom till drömmarnas klubb – "Jag hoppas på att spela Champions League med Dalkurd" [The boy with the dreams came to the club of dreams – "I hope to play Champions League with Dalkurd] (in Swedish). Dalarnas Tidningar. 1 March 2016. Drömt stort är något som Pllana har gjort ända sedan han började spela fotboll i hemstaden Mitrovica i sjuårsåldern
  19. ^ Leonard Pllana at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  20. ^ a b "Grebbestads IF – Leonard Pllana". Grebbestads IF.

External links

  • Leonard Pllana at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata