Mario Mitaj, born on August 6, 2003, is an active Albanian international who currently plays for Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia, and is 1.80 meters tall.
Early football career
Born in Athens, Greece to a family of Albanian immigrants, Mitay has lived with his family in New Ionia, in the Attica region of Greece. As a child, he received formal football training with his AEK youth team in Athens.
AEK Athens period
On August 12, 2020, Mitaj, who is about to turn 17, signed his first professional contract with AEK Athens and began training with the first team.
On 18 October 2020, he made his Greek Premier League debut against PAOK, becoming the youngest foreign player in the club's history to make an appearance in an official match (although he has a Greek passport, he chose to represent Albania Under-17 in 2018) at just 17 years, 2 months and 13 days.
In the 2020/21 season, he made 10 appearances in the Greek Super League, in addition to two in the Greek Cup.
During his time with AEK Athens, the club changed his contract several times. On February 2, 2021, AEK Athens renewed his contract, which will run until the summer of 2023. On August 10 of the same year, AEK Athens Club revised the contract again, renewing it until the end of June 2026. However, in the 2021/22 season, after making just one appearance for the team in the Greek Super League, he was relegated to AEK Athens Juniors, making 20 appearances in the Greek First Division that season.
Lokomotiv Moscow
On August 27, 2022, Mitay signed a five-year contract with Russian Premier League side Lokomotiv Moscow, which expires at the end of June 2027 for a transfer fee of 3 million euros. The transfer rider stipulates that AEK Athens will receive a proportional share of the transfer for the next transfer of Mitaj.
In his debut season in the 2023/24 Russian Premier League, Mitay made just 14 appearances for the team, and he has made 14 appearances in the Russian Premier League this season, and has gradually become a regular in the team.
Albania Youth
He was born in Greece and is of Albanian descent, so he is eligible to represent Albania or the Greek team in international competitions. He was called up to Greece's Under-16 squad but ultimately opted to play for Albania, making 16 appearances and scoring four goals between 2018 and 2020. Since 2021, he has represented Albania Under-21 and has made 16 appearances.
Albania national team
On March 31, 2021, in Albania's 2-0 away win over San Marino in the Euro 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Mitaj came on as a substitute in the 87th minute to make his international debut. At the age of 17 years and 237 days, he became the second-youngest international player in the Albanian national team.
He has not been called up to the national team since, and it was only with the arrival of Brazilian coach Silvinho that he made another appearance for Albania in a Euro 2024 qualifying win at home to Moldova, more than two years after his first appearance. In this European Championship qualifier, except for the first round against Poland, he was called up by Albania's U21 youth team and did not play, he played the whole game in the other seven games and became the absolute main force on the left side of the team's defense.