NEW Clarets signing Besart Berisha has spoken of his family's traumatic past after he was threatened with kidnap by the Albanian mafia.

The striker was just seven when he was forced to flee the former Yugoslavia with his family when war broke out in 1992.

And he had to go into hiding when he returned to Pristina two years ago to get a German residency permit when the criminal underworld threatened to snatch him and hold him to ransom.

The 21-year-old has agreed a three-year deal with Burnley after the club agreed a £340,000 fee with Bundesliga side Hamburg, subject to a work permit being granted.

In an interview with UEFA last year he said going back home had proved a traumatic experience and added: ""I almost went mad. I'll never forget this time. But I've drawn strength from these moments."

Football also means Besart's family can stay in Germany with no money worries.

He said: "So for me, sport has a completely different meaning. I take the whole thing more seriously.

"I'll never forget where I've come from. That month in Pristina left a deep impression."

He scored his first international goal for the Albanian national team during a friendly with England B played at Turf Moor last month.

After Besart and his family fled their home country because of the civil war, they ended up in Germany, finding accommodation at a refugees' centre in Berlin.

Football provided an emotional outlet for the young Berisha as he turned out for Berlin VB 49 and BFC Dynamo, before a spell with TSV Lichtenberg and finally a place at SV Lichtenberg 47.

He finished leading scorer in the U-19 Bundesliga in 2004 with 20 goals from 26 appearances and then signed for Hamburg.

In normal circumstances, he and his family would already have been sent home from Germany, but his mother was seriously traumatised by the war in her country of birth, and the refugee family was given temporary permission to remain.

Besart returned to Pristina and applied for Serbian citizenship, but the process was beset by delays, causing great anxiety.

He ended up in hiding, as many locals found out he was playing professional football in Germany, and the criminal underworld hatched a plan to kidnap and ransom him.

Among the fan comments on Beshart's website yesterday was one applauding his goal against England and wishing him luck at Turf Moor.