Hamdi Abdullah Salihi (born 19 January 1984) is an Albanian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the assistant manager of Albania.
Nicknamed 'The Bomber' by his former international coach Otto Barić who would compare him to Gerd Müller, Salihi is known for being a prolific goalscorer both in Albania and Austria, the two countries where he has spent the majority of his career.
An Albania international player, Salihi has won 50 caps and was a regular starter between 2009 and 2013.
Club career
Early years
Salihi begun his professional career at his boyhood club Vllaznia Shkodër, where he was promoted in the first team by coach Artan Bushati in the 2002–03 season; he made two appearances as the team finished runner-up to eventual champions Tirana. He had his breakthrough season in the 2003–04 season, netting his first Albanian Superliga goal in the opening week, a 4–1 away loss to Partizani Tirana. In cup, he notably scored four goals in a 9–0 away win versus Ada Velipojë in the second leg of second round. Salihi finished his first full-season by netting 14 goals in 33 league appearances, with Vllaznia finishing third.
Salihi scored his first top-flight hat-trick on 23 October 2004 in Vllaznia's 7–0 hammering of Laçi. He was the most in-from striker during the first part of 2004–05 season in which he managed to score 16 goals in only 20 matches which ensured him a transfer to Greece.
In January 2005, Salihi moved for the first time outside the country by joining Panionios in then Alpha Ethniki on a three-year contract. The young Albanian striker managed to play in 6 games, mostly coming on as a substitute in the last few minutes. He left the club following the end of the season and came back to Albania. Many years later he stated that the transfer was a mistake, adding that he was not ready to leave the country at such young age.
Tirana
Salihi moved back to Albania and played for Tirana starting from the 2005–06 season. In his first match since returning in Albania, Salihi scored as Tirana started the Albanian Superliga with a 2–1 away win at Vllaznia Shkodër. Later on 16 September in the match day 4 against city rivals Dinamo, Salihi scored a brace, including a last-minute winner, to rescue his side a point. His was followed by another brace one week later against Skënderbeu Korçë. He had a very successful season winning the Albanian Cup and the Golden Boot as the highest scorer of the Albanian Superliga.
He continued with Tirana for another half season, again being the highest scorer in the league before he left to purchase a career outside Albania. During his time at Tirana, Salihi became well-known all over the world for his goalscoring abilities. He finished eighth in The IFFHS World's best Top Division Goal Scorer 2006. Salihi later would go on to say that the transfer to Tirana was the best choice of his career, adding that at Tirana he matured as a player and person.
SV Ried
In January 2007, Salihi completed a transfer to SV Ried of the Austrian Bundesliga. In the remaining part of 2006–07, Salihi scored 6 goals in 15 league appearances as Ried finished runner-up in championship. By finishing second in the league, Ried won the right to play European football. On 19 July 2007, in the first leg of 2007–08 UEFA Cup first qualifying round, Salihi netted in the last minute of regular time as Ried won 3–1 against Neftchi Baku. He also scored his team's only goal in the returning leg as Ried was defeated 1–2 but progressed 4–3 on aggregate.
In the 2007–08 season, Salihi enjoyed a decent season at the club, becoming the league's joint fourth top scorer along with Carsten Jancker of SV Mattersburg with 12 league goals. Despite this, SV Ried only finished seventh out of 10 in the league. In the 2008–09 season Salihi improved himself to 14 league goals at Ried, scoring one fourth of his team's goals. Ried placed fifth at the end of the season. On the 2009–10 season Salihi played 6 games which he score twist for his club but couple weeks later he was sold to Rapid Wien.
Rapid Wien
On 31 August 2009, Salihi completed a transfer to Austrian giants SK Rapid Wien by penning a three-year contract. On his debut match, brought from the bench and netted in the 83rd minute in the match against Red Bull Salzburg which saved Rapid from the loss as the match ended 2–2.