Albian Ajeti

Albian Ajeti (born 26 February 1997) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Switzerland national team.

Albian Ajeti
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-02-26) 26 February 1997
Place of birth Basel, Switzerland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 10
Youth career
2005–2015 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Basel U21 40 (18)
2014–2016 Basel 11 (3)
2016 FC Augsburg II 6 (2)
2016–2017 FC Augsburg 1 (0)
2016–2017 → St. Gallen (loan) 29 (10)
2017 St. Gallen 7 (3)
2017–2019 Basel 58 (29)
2019–2020 West Ham United 9 (0)
2020– Celtic 16 (6)
National team‡
2012 Switzerland U15 6 (2)
2012 Switzerland U16 2 (1)
2012–2014 Switzerland U17 17 (7)
2014 Switzerland U18 3 (2)
2015 Switzerland U20 1 (0)
2015–2018 Switzerland U21 8 (0)
2018– Switzerland 10 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:50, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:50, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

He has previously played for Basel U21, Basel, FC Augsburg II, FC Augsburg, St. Gallen and West Ham United. His elder brother Arlind Ajeti and his twin brother Adonis are also footballers.

Club career

Youth

The Ajeti twins started their youth football with Basel in 2005, at the same time as their elder brother moved to the club from Concordia. In the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons Albian Ajeti played in Basel's U-16 and with the team he twice became Swiss Champion at this level. During the 2012–13 season he also played in their U-18 team. On 30 April 2013 the twin brothers both signed their first professional contracts with the club,[1] thus also becoming part of their first team. During the 2013–14 season he was called into their U-21 team.

Basel

Albian Ajeti played a number of test games before the 2013–14 FC Basel season and scored the winning goal in the 3–2 win against RB Leipzig on 26 June 2013 during the club's training camp in Walchensee.[2] He spent most of the season playing with the FCB U-21 team in the 1. Liga Promotion, the third tier of the Swiss Football League, but was often called to the first team, taking a place on their substitute bench.

Ajeti made his professional debut, coming in as a substitute, on 13 March 2014 in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 home tie in St. Jakob-Park.[3] The match against Red Bull Salzburg ended in a goalless draw.[4] At 6 April 2014, he made his league debut against FC Thun in a goalless draw in St. Jakob-Park.[5] At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season he won the league championship with Basel.[6] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the group stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals.

For Ajeti and for Basel the season 2014–15 was a very successful one. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row that season[7] and in the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final. But for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to FC Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout phase as on 9 December 2014 they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.[8] But then Basel then lost to Porto in the Round of 16. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). Under trainer Paulo Sousa Ajeti totaled 16 appearances, 4 in the League, 2 in the Cup, as well 10 in test games. He scored 3 goals in these matches, all being in the test matches.[9] he also played for their U-21 team.

Augsburg

Ajeti signed a four and a half year contract with FC Augsburg on 8 January 2016.[10] Ajeti made a solitary Bundesliga appearance for Augsburg, coming on as a 54th minute substitute in a 2–2 draw against Darmstadt on 12 March 2016.

St. Gallen

In the 2016–17 Swiss Super League season Ajeti was loaned to St. Gallen on a one-year loan with the option for the club to buy the player. At the end of the season, St. Gallen signed Ajeti.[11]

Return to Basel

On 2 October 2017, Basel announced that Ajeti had signed a five-year contract.[12] On 14 October 2017, Ajeti scored on his debut for Basel in a 4–0 away win against Lugano.[13] In Basel's last five games of their 2017–18 season, Ajeti scored seven goals, taking his total for the 2017–18 Swiss Super League season to 17, becoming the top scorer, with 14 goals scored for Basel. In the following season, Ajeti again scored 14 league goals for the club.[14] Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat lower classed FC Montlingen, in the second round Echallens Région and in the round of 16 Winterthur. In the quarter finals Sion were defeated and in the semi finals Zürich. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[15] On 19 July 2019, in Ajeti's last Swiss Super League appearance for Basel, he scored the opening goal and assisted twice more in a 4–1 away win against Sion.[16]

West Ham United

On 8 August 2019, Ajeti joined West Ham United signing a four-year contract for a fee of £8 million.[17] On 27 August 2019, Ajeti made his debut, starting in a 2–0 win against Newport County in the EFL Cup.[18]

Celtic

Ajeti joined Celtic on a four-year deal on 13 August 2020, for a reported fee of £5 million.[19] He made his league debut for Celtic on 22 August 2020 against Dundee United, coming on as a substitute in 73rd minute and scoring the winning goal in 83rd minute in a 1-0 win.[20]

International career

Ajeti made appearances for the Switzerland U-15 and U-16 national teams. He played his debut for their U-17 team being substituted in during the 3–0 win against the Faroe Islands U-17 on 10 October 2012. He scored his first goal for the team just two days later during the 5–1 victory against Cyprus U-17. Altogether he played 17 games for the U-17 scoring a total of 7 goals.

Ajeti played his debut for the Swiss U-18 team on 4 September 2014 as the Swiss won 1–0 in the away game against the Swedish U-18 team in Gävle. It was Ajeti who scored the winning goal in the 88th minute.[21] He played his debut for the U-20 national team on 31 March 2015 as the Swiss were defeated 1–0 by the Italian U-20 team.

In August 2015 Albania's coach, Gianni de Biasi declared to the Swiss media that he plans to call Ajeti for the October 2015 qualifying matches of Euro 2016.[22]

Ajeti earned his first appearance for Switzerland on 8 September 2018, coming on as a substitute for Breel Embolo and scored his first goal in a 6–0 win against Iceland in the UEFA Nations League.

In May 2019, he played in 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished 4th. [23]

Personal life

Albian Ajeti's older brother Arlind plays for Vejle BK and the Albania national team, his twin brother Adonis plays for St. Gallen.

Ajeti and his brothers are fluent in Albanian, the language of their parents, and they have always communicated in Albanian in their life outside of football.[24]

Career statistics

Club
As of 17:00, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals AppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basel 2013–14 Swiss Super League 2100—1031
2014–15 Swiss Super League 4120—0061
2015–16 Swiss Super League 5131—30110
Total 11351—40204
FC Augsburg II 2015–16 Regionalliga Bayern 52———52
2016–17 Regionalliga Bayern 10———10
Total 6200000062
FC Augsburg 2015–16 Bundesliga 1000——10
St. Gallen (loan) 2016–17 Swiss Super League 291011——3011
St. Gallen 2017–18 Swiss Super League 7310——83
Total 36132100003814
Basel 2017–18 Swiss Super League 251410—302914
2018–19 Swiss Super League 321455—624321
2019–20 Swiss Super League 1100—2132
Total 582965001137537
West Ham United 2019–20 Premier League 901020—120
Celtic 2019–20 Scottish Premiership —1[lower-alpha 1]0——10
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 176001070256
Total 176101070256
Career total 137521573022317763
  1. The later stages of the 2019–20 Scottish Cup were played in October and December 2020.

International goals

Switzerland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ajeti goal.

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref
1 8 September 2018Kybunpark, St. Gallen, Switzerland1 Iceland5–06–02018–19 UEFA Nations League A[26]

Honours

Basel

Individual

References
  1. FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Profiverträge für Adonis und Albian Ajeti" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  2. Marti, Caspar (2013). "Der FCB schlägt RB Leipzig mit 3:2" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  3. Marti, Caspar (2014). "Keine Tore zwischen Basel und Salzburg" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. Hindley, Martyn (2014). "Basel put breaks on Salzburg". UEFA.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  5. "Basel vs. FC Thun - 6 April 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  7. Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 29 May 2015. (in German)
  8. "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  9. Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  10. "Albian Ajeti wechselt zum FC Augsburg". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 8 January 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  11. "Darmstadt 98 vs. Augsburg 2–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  12. FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Albian Ajeti kommt zurueck zum FCB". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  13. "Lugano vs. Basel 0–4". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  14. "Matches of A. Ajeti". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  15. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  16. "Sion vs. Basel 1–4". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  18. "Jack Wilshere scores first West Ham goal as they edge into Carabao Cup third round with victory over Newport". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  19. Donnelly, Joe. "Celtic delighted to sign Albian Ajeti on four-year deal". www.celticfc.net. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  20. "Dundee United 0-1 Celtic: Albian Ajeti rescues champions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  21. SFV (2014). "Telegram U-18 from Gävle, Sweden". SFV. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  22. "De Biasi për Blick.ch: Ajetin mund ta thirr në tetor August 23, 2015 Sportpress". Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  23. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48191915
  24. Adonis Ajeti: Gjuhën shqipe ma kanë mësuar prindërit Sport Ekspres
  25. Albian Ajeti at Soccerway
  26. "Switzerland-Iceland - UEFA National League". uefa.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  27. "FC Basel 2:1 FC Thun" (in French). SFV. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  28. Kiesewetter, Dominik (2012). "U16 kurz vor der Ziellinie!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  29. FC Basel 1893 (2013). "Die U16 holt das Double!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  30. "Classement des buteurs 2017/18". sfl.ch. Swiss Football League. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
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