Kristjan Asllani was born on 9 March 2002 in Elbasan, Albania, and moved to Italy with his family at the age of two. He grew up through Empoli's youth academy and made his Serie A debut in 2021, impressing in his breakthrough season as a calm deep-lying midfielder.
Inter Milan signed him in summer 2022, initially as the long-term backup to Marcelo Brozović. After Brozović's departure in 2023 he saw more game time and contributed to the 2023-24 Serie A title and to multiple Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana wins, with a memorable highlight being a direct corner-kick goal — a "gol olímpico" — against Udinese in the 2024-25 Coppa Italia.
Although eligible for Italy by long residency, he chose Albania, where he has become a key player under coach Sylvinho. He set a record of 28 consecutive caps and was central to Albania's first-ever group win in Euro 2024 qualifying, before featuring at Euro 2024 itself.
Looking for regular minutes, he joined Torino on loan in August 2025, then Beşiktaş in early 2026.
A composed, technically clean regista, Asllani has the rare profile of a young midfielder happy to dictate tempo and play between the lines, and is regarded as one of Albanian football's most important modern players.