Bersant Celina has joined Swansea City from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee.
Celina has signed a four-year contract with the Championship side and will complete his move upon receiving international clearance.
“When I heard that Swansea wanted me, I knew straight away it would be the best move for me because I know the manager wants to play good football. I’ve been at Manchester City a long time, but it was the right time and decision,” he told the club’s website.
“I have come to Swansea because I want to play regular football. I don’t think there’s any better place for me,” he added.
The 21 year old joined City from Stromsgodset but only made one appearance in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 defeat to Leicester City in February 2016.
He spent last season on loan at Ipswich Town, scoring seven goals in 35 league games
Celina signed a three-year professional contract with Manchester City. At the time, Celina was injured and had a surgery; after returning from injury, he remained with the youth team whilst rehabilitating.
In late December 2014. Celina was called up to the first team by head coach Manuel Pellegrini due to the busy Christmas schedule that saw Manchester City play four games in just over a week. Celina was not selected in the 18-man squad for the three matches in the Premier League, but in the fourth match valid for the third round of FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday on 4 January 2015, he made the matchday squad. Celina remained on the bench for the entire match, which finished with a 2–1 comeback victory for City.
On 19 January 2015. Celina was selected to take part in the first-team squad’s mid-season Abu Dhabi training camp along with three other Manchester City academy players. He was included along with Brandon Barker, George Evans and Thierry Ambrose from Patrick Vieira’s Elite Development Squad for the trip to the Middle East Celina made his first senior appearance for City as a substitute for Edin Džeko in a friendly against German side Hamburger SV.
Celina made his official debut for the first team on 9 January 2016 in the FA Cup tie against Norwich City, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute in a 3–0 away win.Later he also made his first Premier League appearance by playing as a substitute in a 3–1 home defeat against Leicester City on 6 February, assisting Sergio Agüero for Manchester City’s only goal. On 21 February, he made his first appearance in Manchester City’s starting XI in an FA Cup fifth round match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Following an impressive 2016/17 campaign Celina signed a new three-year deal with Manchester City F.C
On 25 August 2016. Celina joined Eredivisie side FC Twente, on a season-long loan. He made his debut on 10 September, as a 67th-minute substitute, scoring his first goal for the club. On 29 January 2017, Celina was sent off with a red card at 49 minutes, in a match against PEC Zwolle. On 6 April, Celina scored his 5th goal for Twente in stoppage time, to save a 2–2 draw with PSV.
On 3 July 2017. Celina joined EFL Championship side Ipswich Town, on a season-long loan On 22 August 2017, he scored his first goal for Ipswich in an EFL Cup tie against Crystal Palace. He scored his first league goal for Ipswich in a 2–1 loss against Queens Park Rangers
As soon as FIFA permitted the Kosovo to play sanctioned friendly matches with other FIFA members, in March 2014, Celina was called up to the Kosovo squad for their first sanctioned match against Haiti. He was an unused substitute for the match, which finished in a goalless draw.
Celina missed the two upcoming friendlies against Turkey and Senegal in May due to injury, but returned in September 2014 for the match against Oman. He made his debut for Kosovo in that match by playing for 83 minutes, as Kosovo won 1–0 to record its maiden win.
In January 2015. Celina declared that he would turn down a call-up to the Norway, as he wanted to play for Kosovo. Albert Bunjaki, the head coach of Kosovo declared that he would not be selected to play for Albania despite his holding dual citizenship from Norway and Kosovo.
After making appearances with Kosovo’s national side he also appeared once for Norway U21, keeping his options open. However, he all but confirmed his allegiance to Kosovo when he appeared in their first friendly as a FIFA nation, against the Faroe Islands. He made his competitive debut against Finland on 5 September 2016, coming on as a sub in the 66th minute, cap tying him to Kosovo, confirming which national team he will represent.