Ylber Ramadani has quickly established as a firm fans favourite since joining the Dons from Hungarian side MTK Budapest last summer. RedTV caught up with the midfielder at the Winter Gardens in Duthie Park to look ahead to this Sunday’s Viaplay Semi-Final against Rangers at Hampden, growing up in Kosovo and how he has settled into life in the North-east of Scotland.

To watch the interview in full on RedTV, please click on the red button.

“Playing for the national team is important for me. I was very proud when I made my debut for Albania and it was very special because I scored in my first game. My mother couldn’t believe it that I scored! She was shocked. My family come and see every game for the national team, and I was so happy because everyone dreams to play for the national team.

“If I am honest, I was shocked to score too! I took the ball and dribbled past a player. I saw the keeper and I say to myself, “Oh, I am going to shoot now!” When I saw the ball hitting the net, I just went crazy! You should see it on the video!”

Life wasn’t easy for Ylber, growing up in Kosovo after the war, but football was always an obsession for the youngster.

“I always wanted to be a football player because I love this game. I don’t know what will happen in future, but I will always stay in football. Growing up was difficult, especially after the war, it was very hard for my family. We did not have much money but we started a little business, working very hard.

“My father, he said to me, ‘You will not go playing football, because you have to work to keep the family.’ So I had to go behind his back. I never tell him that I’m going to play! Then when I had a team, I said, “Dad, I’m playing professional football!” First game, I was 15 and a half I think, and he came and saw me.

“From that moment, he said, ‘You just concentrate on your football you don’t touch anything else anymore!’ It was very hard in Kosovo, very difficult or a player from Albania to go and play in Aberdeen or in Europe but I tried to work very hard to make this happen.

“This is my motivation, all the time, to help my family. I sacrifice everything for my family because to be here it’s not easy, I miss my parents, my family, I miss them, but you have to sacrifice everything if you want to achieve something. This is how life is. I’m doing this for them and I am grateful to Aberdeen for helping me to make this happen. So my dream is to win trophies, I hope I will do it in Aberdeen, because they have given me this chance.”

Enjoying a successful footballing career does come with a price tag for players like Ylber, and they pay it in terms of time spent apart from their families. As he said, it’s a major sacrifice.

“I have moved around Europe a lot and it is hard because like everyone would, I miss my family. The hardest time for me is when I say goodbye to my mother and my father. This is the hardest part for me because when I go there, my mother is so proud with me, my father, my family, everyone, they are so proud of me, that I can come here and play.

“But when I say goodbye to them, it feels very difficult inside, but I never show to them, I keep it in myself, I never tell them. But also, I am proud that in this moment I can come to Aberdeen. I’m enjoying it a lot here. I try all the time to work hard and I am very pleased to be here at such a great club.”

Ylber has already impressed at Pittodrie, but did he find it easy to settle into life at the club and then into the Scottish game?

“When I signed here, I say to my family, to my father, the league is very strong there. And he said to me, ‘You can do it, just work hard!’ It’s more physical than Denmark and Hungary, the game in also very fast and it is a much stronger league.

“I was expecting it to be hard but thanks to the coach, to the players, they were very helpful and very friendly and I feel good in training and on the pitch. They support me. This is most important, for the team to support each other. I feel this. I can say I never feel it as much in any team as it is like here. So close, it is like family.

“When I see we bring in many new players, I think it is going to be hard to get to know everybody. But okay, maybe we need to trust the process! It has worked out good, because even if initially we don’t know each other and how we play, I think we have done very well so far. Now when we start the second part of the season, we know each other much better.”

So to Sunday and a first trip to Hampden for Ylber and a number of his teammates, how much is he looking forward to the game?

“It is a massive game for everyone. You have to enjoy it and play to go to the final. These games don’t come around all of the time, you have to take it. It is a big game for the club, for the players and of course for the fans. If you win the cup it is perfect.

“Playing in games like Sunday is one of the reasons why I joined Aberdeen. When I made my presentation I said that I came here to win something and I hope on Sunday that we can reach the final. It will be perfect for me and for everyone in Aberdeen.”