In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios.

[5] In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against Turkey in May 2014, a friendly match.

[14] Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland with his family as refugees in 1992.

His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having asthma.