LORENT TOLAJ

Born: 23 October 2001

Came from: Port Vale   Went to: Bristol City

First game: 23 August 2025   Last game: 02 May 2026

Appearances: 35 (32/3)   Goals: 21

Born in Aigle in the south-west of Switzerland, Tolaj is of Kosovar descent and a practising Muslim who observes Ramadan. A forward, he began his career in his homeland with FC Sion.

He represented Switzerland at under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels. In November 2019, he scored eight goals in Switzerland's remarkable 16-1 victory over Gibraltar, setting a record for the most goals scored by a player in a UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifier.

His prolific goalscoring record at youth level did not go unnoticed and he joined Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018. He won the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup with the club's under-23 side and scored regularly throughout the academy age groups. Although he never made a senior first-team appearance for Brighton, he did feature in the EFL Trophy. Loan spells followed as Brighton looked to further his development, although knee and hamstring injuries restricted him for much of the 2020-21 season.

Tolaj spent the 2021-22 campaign on loan with League One side Cambridge United, making five substitute appearances before being recalled as opportunities became increasingly limited following the return of several players from injury.

The following season brought another loan move, this time to League Two club Salford City, where he made 17 appearances and scored once. A second loan later in the campaign took him to Scottish Championship side Dundee, but an Achilles injury restricted him to just three appearances.

Released by Brighton in June 2023 without making a senior appearance for the club, he joined National League side Aldershot Town the following month. The move proved pivotal. Tolaj scored 25 goals in 51 appearances during the 2023-24 season, winning the National League Player of the Month award for January 2024. Although Aldershot narrowly missed out on the play-offs, he was named the Supporters' Club Player of the Season, while his team-mates voted him Players' Player of the Season.

His form earned a move to League Two side Port Vale in June 2024 for an undisclosed fee. He finished as the club's leading scorer as the Valiants secured promotion to League One at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. He was also named League Two Player of the Month for April after playing a pivotal role in the club's automatic promotion. Including the opening weeks of the 2025-26 season, he made 46 appearances for Vale, scoring 16 goals.

Following Argyle's relegation from the Championship and the extensive squad rebuilding that followed, the club remained without a recognised number nine after Ryan Hardie's departure to Wrexham in June 2025. In late August, Argyle activated the reported £1.2 million release clause in Tolaj's Port Vale contract.

Head coach Tom Cleverley later said he had brought "the right number nine into the building" following Tolaj's "monumental rise up the footballing pyramid". He became Argyle's 13th signing of the summer, joining on a four-year contract during a week that also saw the arrivals of defenders Alex Mitchell and Mathias Ross.

The move proved an immediate success. Nicknamed 'Tolly', he scored 21 goals in 35 appearances, including 17 in League One, and recorded a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory away to Doncaster Rovers in December 2025. Cleverley's assessment proved well founded, although Tolaj's stay at Home Park would ultimately be brief.

After appearing in Argyle's opening pre-season friendly ahead of the 2026-27 campaign against Plymouth Parkway, he was omitted from the squad for the following fixture at Bath City. Shortly afterwards, he completed a move to Bristol City on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, widely reported to be in excess of £4 million, with a further £1.5 million in potential add-ons and a 20 per cent sell-on clause. It represented a substantial return on Argyle's investment after just one outstanding season at Home Park.