*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 September 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 June 2024
Arlind Afrim Ajeti (born 25 September 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Bodrum. Born in Switzerland, he represents Albania at international level.
Early life
Ajeti was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Albanian parents originally from Podujevo, Kosovo (then Yugoslavia), who had emigrated to Switzerland as did many Kosovans in the 1990s.[1] Arlind was the first child of Afrim and Sylbije Ajeti. He is the older brother of twins Albian, who plays for Basel and the Switzerland national under-21 team; and Adonis, who plays for Rapperswil-Jona.[2] In July 2015 the whole family became Albanian citizens.[3] His father, Afrim, was also a footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career
Early years
Ajeti's father Afrim was an inspiration for Arlind to start football when, aged 8, Arlind started playing each day with his father before beginning to play youth football with FC Concordia Basel at the age of 10.[4] In 2004 he became a player of Basel,[2] representing the under-16, under-18 and under-21 teams. With the under-21 team he played from the 2010–11 season until the 2014–15 in the 1. Liga Promotion, collecting overall 67 appearances in which he scored 4 goals.[5]
Basel
On 2 January 2011, he signed his first professional contract with Basel, on a 2+1⁄2-year contract, and was called up to the first team ahead of the 2011–12 season,[6] He was eligible to play for the newly formed Basel under-19 team in the 2011–12 NextGen series, playing the team's first game against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 August 2011.[7]
He made his league debut as a substitute on 28 August 2011, in the 2–1 home win against FC Thun.[8] At the end of the 2011–12 season he won the Double, the League Championship title[9] and the Swiss Cup[10] 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.
The 2014–15 season was a very successful one for Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row[16]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 3–0 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.[17] 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 totalled 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.[18]
On 24 November 2015, after six months as a free agent following 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.[20][21] He was given the vacant number 93, a number which he choose due to his year of birth.[22] 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.[22]
He was called up for his first game on 6 December 2015, against Chievo Verona at the Stadio Matusa where he was an unused substitute. He finally made his debut against Sassuolo on 6 January when he was involved in an own goal but he scored too in that match.[23]
In the end Frosinone was relegated to Serie B.[24]
Torino
On 7 July 2016, Torino completed the signing of Ajeti on a free transfer.[25][26] He penned a three-year contract, with the option to extend for a further two years. His salary was reported to be €500,000 per season.[27] He made it his debut on 5 February 2017 against Empoli in a 1–1 draw.[28] A week later he scored his first goal against Pescara in the 9th minute to send the score 2–0 and conceded an own goal later, but Torino won the match 5–3.<[29]
Loan to Crotone
On 1 August 2017, Ajeti was loaned out to fellow Serie A team F.C. Crotone until the end of the 2017–18 season with an option to buy.[30] In the match against Chievo on 17 December 2017, Ajeti made a strike for goal that was diverted into the empty net by Ante Budimir, which was enough to give Crotone a 1–0 victory.[31][32]
Grasshoppers
On 13 September 2018, Ajeti officially become a Grasshoppers player by signing an initial one-year contract with an option to extend for a further two years, thus returning to Switzerland after three years.[33]
Vejle BK
On 18 February 2020, Danish 1st Division club Vejle Boldklub confirmed that they had signed Ajeti.[34] The club did not reveal how long Ajeti had signed for.
Padova
On 16 November 2021, he signed with Padova in Serie C for one season with an option to extend for another year.[35]
Pordenone
On 12 July 2022, Ajeti joined Pordenone on a two-year deal.[36]
The abandoned match between Serbia and Albania played on 14 October 2014 where Albanian players showed bravery by defending their national symbol against the permanent political enemies Serbia in their home, motivated many footballers of Albanian descent to express their desire to play for Albania national team and Ajeti was the first one to do so by citing that he wants to play for the senior team of Albania.[37]
He made his debut for Albania on 14 November 2014 in the "Group I centralised" friendly match against the Euro 2016 hosts, France,[38] coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute in place of Amir Abrashi. On 5 March 2015, Ajeti received Albanian citizenship among fellow defender of Basel Naser Aliji[39] to be eligible to play for Albania national team in official qualifiers matches.[40]
Euro 2016
On 21 May 2016, Ajeti was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016,[41] and in Albania's final 23-man squad on 31 May where he was given the shirt number 18.[42]
On 28 May, he scored his first international goal during the Euro 2016 warm-up match against Qatar, which ended in a 3–1 win.[43][44]
Ajeti was an unused substitute in Albania's first ever UEFA Euro match against Switzerland which ended in a 1–0 defeat.[45] In the second match against the host country France, due to the dismissal of Lorik Cana, Ajeti started and put on a strong performance but was forced to be replaced in the 85th minute due to an injury; his ouster weakened the team which conceded two late goals.[46] In the third and final match against Romania on 19 June, Ajeti produced a Man of the Match performance by helping the team to keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory to provide last 16 hope.[47] With Ajeti on the pitch, Albania did not concede any goal during the course of the competition, making him a favourite of many Albania fans. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference –2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.[48]
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
Ajeti was unable to join the Albania national team in their first three 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in September and October 2016 due to an injury. He was called up for the fourth game against Israel on 12 November 2016 but unable to recover in time to play in this match.[49] He was called up for the first time after the full recovery for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Italy on 24 March and a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 28 March 2017.[50]
Personal life
In June 2015, Ajeti married Pranvera Krasniqi.[51] Despite having been born and raised in Switzerland, all of the Ajeti brothers have knowledge of the Albanian language, and mostly communicated in Albanian in their private life.[52]
^ ab"Die stolze Familie Ajeti". tageswoche.ch (in German). Tages Woche. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
^"Arlind Ajeti – Euro 2016 profile" (in Albanian). FSHF.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017. • Kur i keni patur fillesat me futbollin? Kur keni filluar të luani si futbollist profesionist? Kontakti I parë me futbollin ka ardhur pak a shumë , përpara 15 vjetësh. Isha 8 vjec dhe fillova të shikoja tim atë , që luante. Ai ishte portier. Më pas fillova të luaja me babai cdo ditë. Kur isha 10 vjec fillova të luaj me një ekip të vogël në Bazel, të quajtur Concordia Basel.
^ abc"Arlind Ajeti". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
