Ermir Limon Lenjani (born 5 August 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Schaffhausen in the Swiss Promotion League.
A product of Winterthur's academy, he began his senior career in Switzerland, including a loan spell at Grasshoppers, before establishing himself in the Swiss Super League with St. Gallen. He later played in Ligue 1 with Rennes and Nantes, before returning to Switzerland, where he represented Sion and Grasshoppers. He also spent a season in Turkey with Ümraniyespor before returning to Swiss football in 2024 with Schaffhausen.
Born in Kosovo, Lenjani made his debut for the Albania national team in 2013, going on to earn 44 caps and score five goals between 2013 and 2022. He was a regular starter during UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, helping Albania qualify for their first major international tournament, where he featured in all three group-stage matches.
Club career Early career
Born in Kosovo, Lenjani moved to Switzerland with his family during childhood, where he began playing football and, at the age of 12, joined Tössfeld's youth teams, spending around two years there before entering the Winterthur academy. In 2007, he was promoted to Winterthur's reserve team (U21), competing in the third-tier 1. Liga Promotion, where he made 41 league appearances and scored nine goals over the following two and a half seasons.
Winterthur: breakthrough and loan
Lenjani broke into the first team during the second half of the 2008–09 Swiss Challenge League season. He made his senior debut on 9 November 2008 against Schaffhausen on matchday 18, playing the final 41 minutes of a 3–0 defeat and receiving a yellow card. He established himself as a regular in the first team for the remainder of the season, making 11 more league appearances, mostly as a starter, despite missing four matches through suspension following a red card. On 8 March 2009, he scored his first senior goals in a 4–2 away win over Thun, netting the opening and final goals for Winterthur. He scored again on 16 May, equalising in the 34th minute of a 4–1 comeback win against Locarno.
During the 2009–10 Swiss Challenge League season, Lenjani remained a regular starter, featuring regularly through matchday 29 and often playing the full 90 minutes. On 5 December 2009, he scored his first goals of the season in a 4–4 away draw against Wohlen, opening the scoring in the 20th minute before restoring Winterthur's lead at 2–1 in the 34th minute. He scored his fourth league goal on 17 March 2010, putting Winterthur 3–2 ahead in the 53rd minute of a 5–2 home win over Lausanne-Sport. Four days later, he scored the opening goal in the 43rd minute of a 3–0 home victory over Le Mont, with Winterthur adding two more goals in the second half despite playing with ten men, before Lenjani was substituted in the 85th minute. On 8 May, he scored in a 4–1 away win over Locarno before being sent off in the 80th minute after receiving a second yellow card. Winterthur finished third, missing the promotion play-off by three points.
In July 2010, Lenjani joined Grasshopper on loan to gain top-flight experience in the Swiss Super League. He made his debut on 17 July, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw against Neuchâtel Xamax on the opening matchday of the 2010–11 Super League season. During the first half of the season, his involvement spread across the opening months and later returning to action in October and November, making six league appearances, including one start. On 17 October, he scored twice in a 12–0 victory over Gumefens/Sorens in the Swiss Cup round of 32.
Lenjani returned to Winterthur for the second half of the season and quickly re-established himself as a regular starter, playing the vast majority of available minutes during that period. He marked his return with a goal on 20 February 2011, equalising in the 60th minute of a 2–1 defeat to Chiasso. A week later, he opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw against Wohlen. On 3 April, he scored in a 3–3 away draw with Servette. He scored his fourth and final goal of the season on 7 May in a 4–1 defeat away to Locarno.
During the 2011–12 Swiss Challenge League season, Lenjani missed the start of the campaign but returned to the starting line-up and, from matchday 6 onwards, was an ever-present figure, while missing only matchday 17 through suspension after accumulating three bookings. On 5 December 2011, he scored a stoppage-time winner in a 2–1 away victory over Biel/Bienne. He made 25 appearances and scored two goals as Winterthur finished fourth, narrowly missing the promotion play-off. He also featured in the Swiss Cup, helping the club reach the semi-finals before a 2–1 defeat to Basel.
In the first half of the 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League season, Lenjani featured regularly, making 16 appearances and scoring two goals as Winterthur remained among the league's leading teams through matchday 18.
St. Gallen
On 14 December 2012, Swiss Super League club St. Gallen announced the signing of Lenjani on a contract until June 2015, effective from January 2013. He made his debut on 16 February 2013, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Sion on matchday 20 of the 2012–13 Swiss Super League. He was used sparingly for the remainder of the season but started the club's final two league matches when was secured a place in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.
In the 2013–14 season, Lenjani established himself as an undisputed starter, playing the full 90 minutes in each of the team's opening four Super League matches; his performances earned him his first international call-up to the Albania national team in August 2013 for a friendly. On 22 August, he made his UEFA competition debut, playing the full match in a 1–1 draw against Spartak Moscow in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round. He also played the full 90 minutes in the return leg, as St. Gallen won 4–2 away to secure a 5–3 aggregate victory and qualify for the group stage. Lenjani played every minute of the group stage campaign, as the club opened with a 2–0 victory over Kuban Krasnodar, followed by four consecutive defeats, before ending the campaign with a 1–0 win over Swansea City.
In league competition, Lenjani remained a regular starter when available, missing only a handful of matches because of squad rotation during the club's Europa League campaign and his international commitments with Albania. On 28 September 2013, he scored his first Super League goal, netting the winner in a 1–0 away victory over Grasshopper and inflicting the league leaders' first defeat of the season. He also featured in the Swiss Cup, helping St. Gallen reach the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Zürich. On 10 May 2014, he scored the equaliser in a 2–2 away draw against Zürich on the final day of the league season.
During the first half of the 2014–15 Swiss Super League season, Lenjani made 12 league appearances, completing 10 full matches and making two substitute appearances. On 3 August 2014, he provided both assists in a 2–1 home comeback win over Luzern, securing the club's first league victory of the season.
Rennes
Amid reported interest from Stuttgart and Verona, Lenjani joined French Ligue 1 club Rennes on 5 January 2015, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract after completing his medical examination. Rennes had monitored him for several months before completing the transfer as cover for the departing Cheikh M'Bengue during the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He was presented two days later and assigned the number 19 shirt. He made his debut on 13 January, starting the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-final against Bastia before being sent off in the 76th minute, leaving Rennes with nine men in an eventual 3–1 defeat. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 7 February as a 71st-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw with Marseille, before making his first league start a week later in a 2–1 defeat away to Toulouse. Following M'Bengue's return from international duty, he dropped down the pecking order and made only limited first-team appearances. He later missed several weeks with a thigh injury before returning to the matchday squad near the end of the season.
Loan to Nantes
On 17 August 2015, Lenjani joined fellow Ligue 1 club Nantes on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He made his debut five days later, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Stade de Reims, which secured Nantes' first win of the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season. He was subsequently named in L'Équipe's Team of the Week for matchday 3. Lenjani established himself as a regular starter for the remainder of the season despite several absences. He made 24 appearances in all competitions and provided one assist as Nantes finished 14th in the league and reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, where they were eliminated by Sochaux after extra time.
Return to Rennes and reserve team
Following his return to Rennes ahead of the 2016–17 season, Lenjani saw limited first-team opportunities, making only brief substitute appearances in August before being assigned to the club's reserve team, Rennes B, in the fourth-tier Championnat de France Amateur. He returned to the first team on 14 December 2016, making his first appearance in more than three months by playing the full match in a 7–0 defeat to Monaco in the Coupe de la Ligue round of 16. He remained outside Rennes' first-team plans for the rest of the season despite reported interest during the January transfer window, and his lack of playing time ultimately resulted in his omission from the Albania national team.
Sion Lenjani returned to Switzerland on 26 July 2017, signing for Super League club Sion, where he reunited with his former Albania assistant coach Paolo Tramezzani and was assigned the number 33 shirt. He made his debut on 30 July 2017 against Lausanne-Sport, coming on in the 69th minute in a 1–0 away victory. Lenjani quickly established himself as a regular starter, featuring consistently in the league and completing the full 90 minutes in most matches, with only occasional absences due to squad rotation. He scored his first goal for Sion on 13 August in a 9–1 away win over Gränichen in the first round of the Swiss Cup. On 22 September, he scored his first league goal, netting the winner in a 2–1 away victory over Lugano. He added his second league goal on 11 March 2018 in a 7–2 home win against Thun, also providing two assists as Sion moved off the bottom of the table on goal difference. His performance earned him a place in Blick's Team of the Week. Sion finished the season in mid-table.
On 7 October 2018, Lenjani scored his first goal of the Super League season in a 1–1 away draw against Neuchâtel Xamax. Three weeks later, he opened the scoring in a 3–2 defeat away to Young Boys, also forcing an own goal before inadvertently scoring an own goal himself. On 10 February 2019, he equalised in a 2–2 home draw against Lugano. On 4 April, he scored both goals in a 2–1 away victory over Thun, taking his league tally to five for the season. Three days later, he scored after just ten seconds in a 2–2 draw against Luzern, equalling the record for the fastest goal in Swiss football, and also provided an assist. Lenjani finished the league season with five goals and four assists in 25 appearances as Sion placed eighth, one position above the relegation zone. He also featured regularly in the Swiss Cup, helping Sion reach the quarter-finals, where he provided an assist in a 4–2 extra-time defeat to Basel.