Ermal Krasniqi

Ermal Krasniqi (born 7 September 1998) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a winger for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Kosovo national team.

Early career and Ballkani
Krasniqi spent the last part of his youth career at Feronikeli, before returning to his hometown club Malisheva in 2017. There, he finished his first season as a senior on the third place in the Kosovo Second League. In the summer in 2018, Krasniqi was transferred to Kosovo Superleague side Llapi, but in January 2019 moved to fellow league team Ferizaj due to a lack of play time. He amassed six goals from ten games for the latter, aiding it to a middle-table finish.

On 7 August 2019, Krasniqi signed a two-year contract with top flight club Ballkani. In the 2021–22 season, he scored 15 league goals as Ballkani won its first national title. On 5 July 2022, he made his European competitions debut by starting in a 1–1 home draw to Žalgiris in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

Three weeks later, following his team's elimination from the Champions League, Krasniqi scored in a 6–0 home thrashing of La Fiorita in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. He made five appearances in the group stage of the latter competition, scoring one goal each against Slavia Prague (2–3 away loss) and Sivasspor (4–3 away win).

CFR Cluj
On 10 January 2023, Krasniqi signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with his former Europa Conference League opponent CFR Cluj, being assigned the number 7 jersey. The fee was reported as €200,000 and 15% interest on a potential future transfer, plus €100,000 in conditional bonuses. He made his debut 13 days later in a Liga I match against eventual champions Farul Constanța, scoring and assisting in the 3–0 away win.

Krasniqi amassed five goals from 22 appearances in all competitions during the remainder of the 2022–23 season, but fell out of favour after Andrea Mandorlini replaced Dan Petrescu as the head coach of the club in the summer of that year.

Rapid București
On 28 December 2023, fellow Liga I club Rapid București signed Krasniqi on a two-and-a-half-year deal with the option of another year, for a transfer fee rumoured to be worth €1 million plus 25% interest. On 19 January 2024, he scored on debut in a 4–3 home league win over FC U Craiova.

On 9 March 2024, Krasniqi scored and assisted compatriot Albion Rrahmani as their team thrashed rivals FCSB 4–0 in the last fixture of the regular season. He scored once more against FCSB in a 2–2 away draw in the championship play-offs, on 20 April. On 5 May, he opened the scoring away at his former team CFR Cluj in a 2–3 league loss.

Sparta Prague
On 7 June 2024, Krasniqi signed a contract with Czech First League club Sparta Prague.

Under-21
On 29 August 2020, Krasniqi received a call-up from the Kosovo national under-21 team for the 2021 UEFA European Championship qualification match against England, and made his debut after coming on as a 57th-minute substitute for Valmir Veliu in the 0–6 loss.

Senior
On 11 November 2022, Krasniqi was called up by the Kosovo national team for the friendly matches against Armenia and the Faroe Islands. His made his full debut eight days later by starting in a 1–1 draw against the latter opponent.

After his debut for Kosovo, there were reports that Krasniqi would switch his allegiance to Albania. However, on 19 June 2023 he made his competitive debut for Kosovo in a 1–2 defeat to Belarus counting for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Honours
Ballkani
 * Kosovo Superleague: 2021–22
 * Kosovar Cup runner-up: 2019–20