Stiven Shpendi

Stiven Shpendi (born 19 May 2003) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Empoli, on loan from Cesena. He also plays for the Albania under-21 national team.

Early career
Stiven was born in Ancona, Italy. His parents are originally from Pukë and had emigrated from Albania in 1997; they hold dual citizenship. His twin brother is footballer Cristian Shpendi. Their first team was Real Metauro, from where they moved to Delfino Fano and then to San Marino academy until they went to Cesena.

Shpendi made his professional debut on 10 October 2021 against Ancona-Matelica in the 2021–22 Serie C, replacing Mattia Bortolussi in the last minutes of the match. In February 2022, he (along with his brother) signed a new deal through June 2025. He concluded his first season with the senior squad by making two appearances.

2022–23 season
Shpendi begun the new season by scoring his first professional goal in team's 2–1 win against Carrarese on 4 September 2022. After cementing his place in the lineup in the first weeks of the season, he fell out of favor as manager Toscano relegated him to bench for the next five league games. Shpendi played as a substitute in the matchday 14 against Ancona-Matelica, and a week later returned as a starter against Olbia, but suffered a knee injury which kept him sidelined for the next two weeks.

Shpendi returned from injury on 10 December 2022, by appearing as a second-half substitute against Vis Pesaro, scoring his side's winning goal in the process. Later on in the season, he regained his spot in the starting line-up, notably scoring a brace in a 3–0 away win over Pontedera, as Cesena climbed to the second spot in the championship.

Empoli
On 5 August 2023, Shpendi joined Serie A club Empoli on a two-season loan, with an obligation to buy. It was reported that the deal commanded a €2 million fee, plus €400,000 in add-ons, and a 15% sell-on clause in favor of Cesena.

He made his debut for the club on 12 August 2023, coming on as a substitute for Liam Henderson in the 67th minute of a 2–1 Coppa Italia loss to Cittadella. He then made his top-flight debut one week later, coming on for Matteo Cancellieri in the 70th minute of a 1–0 home defeat to Hellas Verona.

International career
In November 2021, Shpendi was called up to the Albania national under-19 team by coach Armando Cungu to participate in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Group 7 where his side were shorted to play against France, Serbia and North Macedonia. He made his international debut in the first match on 10 November 2021 versus France playing in the starting line up and being substituted at half time exactly for his twin Cristian where his side got beaten 4–0. Then for the next two games he started from the bench to be acttivated only in the closing match against North Macedonia in the last 8 minutes with Albania U19 collecting a 3–1 victory to go on 4 points same as Serbia but failing to qualify due to the goal difference thus ranking in the 3rd place of the group.

He subsequently played for the Albania under-20 managed by coach Alban Bushi in September 2022 in Croatia against North Macedonia and Croatia where his side lost both matches with the same result 3–1 with Shpendi scoring the only goal against Croatia.

Coach Alban Bushi then gave the twins their debut with Albania under-21 on 16 November 2022 including in the starting line up.