What is Albania good at? Surely NOT at making good footballers. Still, from time to time they do have a pretty good looking player (and I am not talking about his appearance now).
For sure Jahmir Hyka is one of them. He was born on 8th March (according to FM it was 3rd August) 1988 in Tirana. It is said that due to his pace and dribbling skills Jahmir is being called an ‘Albanian Maradona’. I guess that this pseudonym is a hyperbole, but, in the end, the newspapers must have something to write about.
Jahmir started his career in the youth teams of Dinamo Tirana. Then he mover to the Norwegian team Rosenborg. I wonder how did they find him? Maybe it was an exchange called ‘give us your salmons and we will give you a nice footballer’? Either way Hyka spent only a year in Trondheim. The club did not want to give him away, but you cannot avoid the limits for non-EU footballers. Jahmir decided to join the Greek magnate – Olympiakos Pireus. Unfortunately he did not make it there at all too. Same reasons as in Norway. In the 07/08 season he got loaned to KF Tirana. Get scored 4 goals in 32 matches and after a long and stormy consultations he got signed by FSV Mainz in May 2008. Dinamo Zagreb wanted him too, but Jahmir have chosen Germany. Good, I would pick Euros instead of Croatian Kunas.
However, Hyka does play a lot better in the national team. Until now he took part in 6 matches and even scored a goal. Pretty nice for a kid.
In FM 2008 Albanian is an Olympiakos player on loan in KF Tirana. His starting price is only Euro 55k. It is not much comparing to what we get for it. Hyka is a versatile and balanced offensive midfielder. His main advantages are pace and dribbling (which I had mentioned in the beginning). Moreover he is intelligent, determined and creative. He can pass, take free kicks and, which is quite surprising, possesses the finishing skill on a decent level. A player like this is a pure diamond.
I am really, really sad, because I have no idea if Jahmir will come to the Polish Ekstraklasa. When I found him he had a long-term contract with Olympiakos and his price was about Euro 1M. That is too much for my Polonia.
Remember that You cannot rest unless You get tired and whoever stands under the tree – eats it’s fruit.