Besart Berisha is a goal machine for Australian A-League side Western United

Besart Berisha scores goals, always has and always will. Well, kind of.

Berisha, a former Kosovo and Albanian international who was born in Yugoslavia before his family fled the Balkans War to settle in Germany, now has Australian citizenship and it's little wonder it is where the 34-year-old feels most at home.

"This is the country where I started playing good football again and achieved great things - I'm very grateful for that,” said Berisha, who is the A-League's record goalscorer.

It's a different story outside Australia. Berisha, formerly of Hamburg, Aalborg, Horsens, Burnley, Rosenborg and Arminia Bielefeld, barely made an impact in Europe before a career-defining switch to Brisbane Roar in 2011.

Berisha scored in both of Brisbane's Grand Final wins in 2012 and 2014 and also helped Melbourne Victory to Championship triumphs in 2015 and 2018 before understandably heading off to the land of the Rising Sun to try his luck and boost his bank balance with Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan.

Once again, Berisha flopped, playing only six matches in two seasons and was even seen as a busted flush by some back in Australia before debutants Western United took a chance on the veteran talisman for their inaugural campaign.

It's a gamble which is paying off nicely as Berisha scored 14 goals in 19 appearances, including four goals in his last two matches. He is 15-8 to score against Perth Glory on Monday.

However, despite four Grand Final successes and two A-League Golden Boots, Berisha will look back on his career with some regrets, including his injury-hit spell at Turf Moor.

Berisha claimed Liverpool and Manchester United were chasing his signature at one time but he failed to play a competitive minute for Burnley following a serious knee injury picked up on international duty as a 22-year-old which saw him sidelined for ten months.

Burnley spent £340,000 on Berisha after he impressed with a goal for Albania in a 3-1 defeat against England B in May 2007.

That England B team saw Michael Owen mark his return to Three Lions colours after being sidelined since the 2006 World Cup and the rest of Steve McClaren's side consisted of Scott Carson, Phil Neville, Michael Dawson, Ledley King, Nicky Shorey, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas, Gareth Barry, Aaron Lennon and Alan Smith.

Owen failed to fire with Smith and substitute Stewart Downing (twice) on target, but Berisha caught the eye.

The BBC report on the game raved about Berisha, who also hit the woodwork, and said of his strike: "Berisha was Albania's most accomplished performer and the Hamburg forward capped a fine performance with a goal, surging past King, before beating Carson with a powerful shot."

Berisha has hit double figures in every season he has spent in Australia and outperformed the expected goal metric ever since Opta started collating A-League figures in 2015.

Besart Berisha scores goals. Always has and always will... in the A-League at least.

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