Arlind Ajeti

Arlind Ajeti

Ajeti playing for the Switzerland under-21 team
Personal information
Full name Arlind Afrim Ajeti
Date of birth (1993-09-25) 25 September 1993
Place of birth Basel, Switzerland
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Frosinone
Number 93
Youth career
2002–2004 Concordia Basel
2004–2010 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2010–2013 Basel U-21 67 (4)
2011–2015 Basel 27 (1)
2015– Frosinone 10 (1)
National team‡
2010 Switzerland U17 7 (0)
2010–2011 Switzerland U18 5 (0)
2011–2012 Switzerland U19 11 (1)
2012 Switzerland U20 2 (1)
2013–2014 Switzerland U21 12 (1)
2014– Albania 7 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 January 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2015

Arlind Afrim Ajeti (born 25 September 1993) is an Albanian footballer who plays as a defender for Frosinone and the Albania national team. He last played for Swiss club Basel before being a Free agent for a half season. He has both nationalities the Swiss where he was born and Albanian his ethnic parents origin which he represents in international level.

Club career

Early career

Ajeti started his youth football with FC Concordia Basel, but in 2004 he became the player of FC Basel.,[1] where he was playing in the U16, U18 and U21 teams.

Basel

He signed his first professional contract, valid over two and a half years, on 2 January 2011 and was called into the first team squad ahead of the 2011–12 FC Basel season,[2] after becoming one of the best defenders in the reserve squad. Because Ajeti is born in 1993 he was eligible to play for the newly formed Basel Under-19 team in the 2011–12 NextGen series. He played his first game the teams first game against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 August 2011.[3]

Ajeti made his first team league debut as a substitute on 28 August 2011 in the 2–1 home win against FC Thun.[4] At the end of the 2011–12 season he won the Double, the League Championship title[5] and the Swiss Cup[6] with Basel. He only played once in the league and had just two Swiss Cup appearances with the first team squad, but played regularly with the U21 team.

At the end of the 2012–13 Swiss Super League season Ajeti won the Championship title[7] for the second time and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[8] In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced to the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[9]

During the beginning of the season 2013–14 on 5 October 2013 Ajeti scored his first league goal in the 2–1 away win against Lausanne-Sport.[10] At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Ajeti won his third league championship with Basel.[11] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. In the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel in the group stage finished the group in third position to qualify for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals.

The season 2014–15 was a very successful one for Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row[12] that season 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.[13] 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). However under trainer Paulo Sousa the season 2014–15 was not a successful one for Ajeti. He totaled solely 17 appearances for the team, just 3 in the League, 2 in the Cup and only 1 in the Champions League, however 11 appearances in test games.[14]

Ajeti became one of the three Albania international footballers who participated in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in history, along with his Basel team-mates Shkëlzen Gashi and Taulant Xhaka.[15]

Frosinone

On 24 November 2015, after 6 months as a free agent after the ending of his contract at Basel, Ajeti signed a contract until the end of the season with the newly promoted Serie A side Frosinone.[16][17] He was given the vacant number 93, a number which he choose due to his year of birth.[18] He was presented to the media two days later, where he said that playing in Serie A was a "dream come true", and thanked the club for giving him this opportunity.[18]

He was called up for his first game on 6 December 2015, a 0–2 loss at the Stadio Matusa against Chievo Verona, as an unused substitute. He finally made his debut against Sassulo FC on January 6th when he was involved in an own goal but he scored too in that match.[19]

International career

Swiss youth teams

Ajeti made his debut for the Switzerland U17 team in the game against Sweden on 4 March 2010. He made his debut for the Switzerland U-18 team on 15 September 2010 in the 2–2 draw with the Belgium U18. During the qualifications to the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship Ajeti played his first game for the Switzerland U19 as substitute in the game Group 2 game against England on 2 June 2011.

On 6 February 2013 Ajeti made his debut for the Swiss U21 team in the El Madrigal stadium in Villarreal, Spain. He played the entire game, but it ended in a 0–1 defeat against the Slovakian U21 team. He played his final game for the Swiss youth teams on 24 September 2014. This was in the 0–2 defeat against the Ukraine U21 team during the qualification matches to the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Albania

After the abandoned match between Serbia and Albania on 14 October 2014, many Albanian descent football players started to express their desire to play for Albania. Ajeti was one of them as he declared that he will play for the senior team of Albania.[20]

He made his first debut for Albania on 14 November 2014 in the "Group I" Friendly Match against the Euro 2016 hosts, France,[21] coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute in place of Amir Abrashi. On 5 March 2015 Ajeti received the Albanian citizenship among fellow defender of FC Basel Naser Aliji[22] to be eligible to play for Albania national team in official qualifiers matches even.[23]

Personal life

Despite having born and grow up in Switzerland, all "Ajeti brothers" have a well-knowledge of the Albanian language, language of their parents, as they have always communicated in Albanian language in their life outside.[24]

Statistics

Club

As of 20 March 2016[25][26]
Season Club Division League League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2010–11 Basel U21 1. Liga Promotion 231——231
2011-12 181——181
2012-13 232——232
2014-15 30——30
Total Basel U21 6740000674
2011–12 Basel Swiss Super League 10200030
2012–13 40301080
2013–14 19140160391
2014–15 30201060
Total Basel 271110180561
2015–16 Frosinone Serie A 12100—121
Total Frosinone 31000031
Career total 9761101801266

International

As of 16 November 2015[26][27]
Albania national team
YearAppsGoals
201420
201550
Total70

Personal life

He is the older brother of twins, Albian who plays for FC Augsburg's first team, and Adonis playing for the FC Basel youth team.[1] In June 2015 he married Pranvera Krasniqi.[28]

Honours

Club

Basel

References

  1. 1 2 "Die stolze Familie Ajeti". tageswoche.ch (in German). Tages Woche. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Meister, Remo (2011). "FCB-Trainingsstart: Vier "Neue", ein paar Abwesende und wie immer grosse Ziele" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  3. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2011). "Punkteteilung im ersten Spiel der "Nachwuchs-Champions League"" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Basel vs. Thun 2 – 1". Soccerway. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Jetzt hat Basel den Titel auf sicher" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Matchtelegram FC Basel 1893 5:3 FC Luzern" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  7. ↑ Schifferle, Michael (2013). "Season review: Switzerland". Eufa. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  8. ↑ SFV (2013). "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Haylett, Trevor (2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". Eufa. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. ↑ Meister, Remo (2013). "Siegtorschütze Ajeti: Der FCB dreht das Spiel in Lausanne und gewinnt 2:1" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  11. ↑ Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  12. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2015-05-29. (German)
  13. ↑ "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  15. ↑ "Historike! 3 shqiptarë në 1/8-at e Champions League (FOTO LAJM)". Sport.albeu.com (in Albanian). 18 February 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "Serie A Frosinone, ufficiale: preso il difensore Ajeti". Corriere Dello Sport (in Italian). 24 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "Arlind Ajeti driblon Partizanin për Frozinonen". Panorama Sport (in Albanian). 23 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  18. 1 2 "Ajeti prezantohet tek Frozinone: Realizova ëndrrën e fëmijërisë". Panorama Sport (in Albanian). 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "Java e 15-të e Serie A e veçantë për Ajetin". Sport Arena (in Albanian). 6 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Sfida me Serbinë, nxit lojtarët shqiptarë, Ajeti: Dua të luaj për Shqipërinë GAZETA DITA
  21. ↑ "Shqipëria tregohet e fortë, barazon me Francën". gazetaexpress.com (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "Dekret për dhënie të shtetësisë shqiptare nr. 8988". president.al (in Albanian). President of Albania. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Ajeti e Aliji marrin shtetësi shqiptare (foto) aSport.al
  24. ↑ Adonis Ajeti: Gjuhën shqipe ma kanë mësuar prindërit Sport Ekspres
  25. ↑ Arlind Ajeti profile at Soccerway
  26. 1 2 Arlind Ajeti National Football Teams
  27. ↑ Arlind Ajeti - national football team player EU-football.info
  28. ↑ "Nga dasma në fushë, Ajeti martohet para Francës". panorama-sport.com (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  29. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2010). "Die U18 des FCB ist Schweizer Meister!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 May 2010.

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