One of the best rising stars of the Macedonian Premier League, Muharem Bajrami, has signed an employment contract with FBK Kaunas, which is one of the biggest clubs in the Baltic Region. The halfway point of the 2005-2006 Macedonian league season has just passed and Bajrami stands second in the goalscoring chart with 12 goals so far, which is an incredible achievement especially for a midfielder. He will have to take his prolific form to Lithuania where FBK Kaunas will be counting on Muharem Bajrami to help them win back the Lithuanian Premier League after the club finished second in 2005. Since the separation of the Lithuanian League from the Soviet Union in 1989 FBK Kaunas have won the title 6 times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004).
Muharem Bajrami can also look forward to UEFA Cup football in the 2006-2007 season. This season Kaunas had to face the UEFA Champions’ League holders, Liverpool, in the Champions’ League 2nd Round, and they lost the tie but not before giving Liverpool a scare in the home leg.
FBK Kaunas has a close relationship with the Scottish Premier League club, Hearts, who are currently second in the league and are fast becoming one of the highest profile clubs in Scotland alongside Celtic and Rangers.
Four players in the current Hearts squad have come from FBK Kaunas and Muharem Bajrami can be sure that Hearts will keep a very close eye on him every time he puts on the shirt of his new club.
Bajrami will also be fighting hard to make the step up from the Macedonian Under-21 team to the Senior Team and to win a place under new manager Srecko Katanec for the important EURO 2008 qualifying campaign which includes the clash at the new Wembley Stadium against England (subject to the stadium construction being completed on time).
In December 2005 Muharem Bajrami appointed the English company Etar as his agent and since then the company has been working intensively to explore the opportunities that would be most suitable and beneficial for Bajrami’s career.
Etar director, Asparouh Dimitrov said: “Our company has a very active scouting network in Western and Eastern Europe and we were alerted about the emergence of Muki Bajrami over the last few years. Last year we sought the opinion from several experts who are very familiar with the Macedonian football market and whose opinion is very important to our company. While evaluating the player it became obvious that Bajrami has the potential to reach the very top of the game, but in order to facilitate this it would be important to make a plan for the best possible development of all aspects of his performances as a football player and very importantly to find a suitable club where it would be possible to carry out this program. In our opinion Kaunas is the ideal club for Muki Bajrami as the club has the same plans for the player – to fulfill the phenomenal potential of Muharem Bajrami and to develop him into a top quality player.”