Ernest Muçi

Ernest Muçi (born 19 March 2001) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş and the Albania national team.

Muçi was born in Albania's capital Tirana and started his footballing career at local club Dinamo Tirana at the age of 15, before moving over to city rivals and the team he supported growing up, KF Tirana.

He initially joined the club's under-17s.

He scored again later that same month, shortly after his 17th birthday against Apolonia, where he scored two goals in a 5-1 home win.

He played 11 games, 6 of which were from the start, and scored 3 goals as Tirana won the 2017–18 Kategoria e Parë and achieved promotion back to Kategoria Superiore.

He made his professional debut for Tirana as a 16-year-old on 28 January 2018 in a 3–0 win in the Kategoria e Parë against Shkumbini, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute for Bedri Greca.

He scored his first senior goal on 3 March 2018 in a 4–1 win against Shënkolli, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Alked Çelhaka and scoring in the 78th minute to make it 4–0 for Tirana.

Muçi made his top-flight debut on 2 September 2018 in a 3–1 away loss to Kukësi, where he also scored in the 61st minute after coming on at half time for Yunus Sentamu.

He struggled for game time in the first-team and only managed 8 league appearances and one goal as Tirana avoided relegation by 5 points.

Muçi begun his international career in September 2018 when Albania under-19 side manager Erjon Bogdani gave him a call-up for the friendlies versus Iceland.

He earned his first cap on 8 September and scored the match's only goal to give his side a 1–0 win in Lushnjë.

As he struggled for first-team minutes, he was a regular in the under-19s, where he scored 4 goals in 11 games to help Tirana finish 3rd in Group A of the under-19s league.

Muçi was one of the most important players in the 2019–20 season, during which Tirana won their 25th championship.

Even tho being mostly a substitute player, he scored some important goals coming off the bench.

On 22 December 2019, Muçi scored a brace in the away win over Laçi.

Later on throughout the season, he scored another brace in the historic 5–1 win over cross-town rivals Partizani.

He ended the season with 12 goals between league and cup, setting a personal best.

Muçi became an undisputed starter in the 2020–21 season, playing 20 league matches as starter during the first part of the season.

At the beginning of the campaign, he signed a new one-year contract with the club.

Muçi scored his first goal of the season in a 4–1 cup win over Shkumbini.

His first league goal of the season came in the 3–2 defeat at Vllaznia in matchday 3.

In February 2021, Tirana announced that Muçi would leave the club after five years, during which he scored 23 goals and won two trophies.

On 23 February 2021, Muçi signed with Polish club Legia Warsaw.

The club reportedly paid €500,000.

Muçi made his debut with Legia four days later in a 2–1 away win over Górnik Zabrze, coming off the bench in the second half.

His first goal for the club came later on 27 July, a winner against Wisła Płock in the opening matchday of the 2021–22 season.

On 9 February 2024, Süper Lig club Beşiktaş announced the signing of Muçi on a three-and-a-half-year contract, for a fee of €10 million, with Legia keeping a 10% sell-on clause.

He became the club's most expensive player ever.

On 4 September 2020, he was called in the Albania U21 team where he scored a brace against Austria U21.

He made his debut for the senior national team on 15 November 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra.

On 20 June 2023, he scored his first goal for the national team in a EURO 2024 qualification match against Faroe Islands.

Tirana

Legia Warsaw