Egli Kaja

Egli Kaja
Personal information
Full name Egli Kaja[1]
Date of birth (1997-07-26) 26 July 1997
Place of birth Prelez i Jerlive, Ferizaji District, Kosovo
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Livingston
(on loan from AFC Wimbledon)
Number 14
Youth career
2003–2006 MHD
2006–2008 Kingstonian
2008–2015 AFC Wimbledon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– AFC Wimbledon 22 (0)
2016 → Lewes (loan) 7 (1)
2018– → Livingston (loan) 2 (0)
National team‡
2017– Albania U21 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:04, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 May 2017

Egli Kaja (born 26 July 1997) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Livingston, on loan from AFC Wimbledon. Kaja also represents Albania and received his first international call-up in 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.[11]

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 Livi 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 20 July 2018 [13]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup League cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AFC Wimbledon2015–16EFL League Two 2000———20
2016–17EFL League One 10———0010
2017–18 1900010—42242
Total 2200010—42272
Career total 2200010—42272
  1. ↑ Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Including other competitions, such as EFL Trophy

References

  1. ↑ "Retained List 2016-17" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Underwood, Matt. "Egli Kaja - Cliff Johnson - Trix2themax fitness Ltd -". www.trix2themaxfitness.com. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  3. ↑ Slavin, Chris. "Kaja aims to build on debut". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  4. ↑ "Wimbledon Academy on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  5. ↑ "Luton Town 2-0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  6. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon 1-1 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  7. ↑ "Barnet FC 3-4 AFC Wimbledon - Checkatrade Trophy". barnetfc.com. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Egli goes out on loan - News". AFC Wimbledon. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Lewes 4 Three Bridges 2". Crawley News 24. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. 1 2 3 "Livingston: 'Direct' winger Egli Kaja joins on loan from AFC Wimbledon". BBC. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Grumbullohet Kombëtarja U-21, Alban Bushi bën publike listën Panorama Sport
  13. ↑ Egli Kaja at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.