Egli Kaja
Egli Kaja (born 26 July 1997) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Northampton Town. Kaja also represents Albania and received his first international call-up in May 2017.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Egli Kaja[1] | ||
Date of birth | 26 July 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Prelez i Jerlive, Ferizaj, Kosovo | ||
Playing position(s) | Winger | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Northampton Town | ||
Number | 21 | ||
Youth career | |||
2003–2006 | MHD | ||
2006–2008 | Kingstonian | ||
2008–2015 | AFC Wimbledon | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2019 | AFC Wimbledon | 22 | (0) |
2016 | → Lewes (loan) | 7 | (1) |
2018 | → Livingston (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2019–2020 | Northampton Town | 4 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:00, 9 December 2019 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 May 2017 |
Club career
Early career
Kaja's career began in 2003 with youth side MHD, where he was offered the opportunity to join Middlesbrough.[2] Having finished as top scorer for three consecutive seasons, Kaja joined Kingstonian in 2006 upon moving to London.[3] Once again finishing as top scorer in the youth set-up, he turned down a trial with Chelsea in order to join AFC Wimbledon.[2] Enjoying a brief stint with AC Milan on trial, he later featured for the Dons on a scholarship, and turned down a second chance to compete for a contract in Milan the following season.[2]
AFC Wimbledon
Kaja signed a professional contract with AFC Wimbledon in April 2015, and made his first team debut on Saturday 26 September.[4] Coming off the bench in a 2–0 defeat to Luton Town,[5] he also made a substitute appearance three days later in a 1–1 draw with Northampton Town.[6] He scored his first goal for Wimbledon in an EFL Trophy tie against Barnet on 29 August 2017.[7]
Lewes (loan)
On 16 December 2016 Kaja was sent on loan to Lewes in the 2016–17 Isthmian League for one month.[8] He made his debut on 31 December 2016 against Three Bridges in a 4–2 win.[9] He scored his first and only goal for Lewes on 10 January 2017 against Herne Bay in a 2–4 away win.[10]
Livingston (loan)
In July 2018, Kaja joined newly-promoted Scottish Premiership side Livingston on a season-long loan but was recalled by new Wimbledon manager Wally Downes in December.[11]
Northampton Town
On 2 September 2019, Kaja joined Northampton on a free transfer until January 2020
International career
Kaja received his first international call up at the Albania national under-21 football team by coach Alban Bushi for a gathering between 14–17 May 2017 with most of the players selected from Albanian championships.[12]
Style of play
Kaja is able to "play on either wing, or be deployed as a second striker".[11] Upon signing for Livingston on loan, player-manager Kenny Miller described him as "quick, powerful and direct" adding that he "will bring a different dimension to our offensive options".[11]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 7 December 2019 [13]
Club | Season | League | Cup | League cup | Other[lower-alpha 1] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
AFC Wimbledon | 2015–16[14] | EFL League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
2016–17[15] | EFL League One | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
2017–18[16] | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 2 | ||
Total | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 2 | ||
Livingston (loan) | 2018–19[17] | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Northampton Town | 2019–20[18] | EFL League Two | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Career total | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 2 |
- Including other competitions, such as EFL Trophy
References
- "Retained List 2016-17" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- Underwood, Matt. "Egli Kaja - Cliff Johnson - Trix2themax fitness Ltd -". www.trix2themaxfitness.com. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- Slavin, Chris. "Kaja aims to build on debut". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Wimbledon Academy on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Luton Town 2-0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "AFC Wimbledon 1-1 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Barnet FC 3-4 AFC Wimbledon - Checkatrade Trophy". barnetfc.com. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- "Egli goes out on loan - News". AFC Wimbledon. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
- "Lewes 4 Three Bridges 2". Crawley News 24. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
- "Herne Bay 1 vs. 4 Lewes - 10 January 2017 - First Team". Herne Bay Football Club. Herne Bay F.C. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
- "Livingston: 'Direct' winger Egli Kaja joins on loan from AFC Wimbledon". BBC. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- Grumbullohet Kombëtarja U-21, Alban Bushi bën publike listën Panorama Sport
- Egli Kaja at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- "Games played by Egli Kaja in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- "Games played by Egli Kaja in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- "Games played by Egli Kaja in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- "Games played by Egli Kaja in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- "Games played by Egli Kaja in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
External links
- Egli Kaja at Soccerbase
- Egli Kaja - Player Profile Eurosport