Player insists move to West Ham wasn’t a mistake – Celtic transfer didn’t work out well

Albian Ajeti spent four years in the UK at West Ham United and Celtic.

Tuesday’s edition of Blick looks at the player’s spell at West Ham, Celtic and other clubs, and how that has impacted his career with the national team.

The 27-year-old striker and Breel Embolo played together at FC Basel’s youth teams.

Ajeti moved to West Ham in 2019, before leaving them for Celtic a year later. Embolo had spells at Schalke and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before joining AS Monaco in 2022.

Embolo has been a regular for Switzerland, while the former West Ham and Celtic man has made only 11 appearances for them.

When Blick asked Ajeti if it was a mistake to leave Basel for the Hammers, he said: “No. I would make the change again.”

Ajeti was restricted to just over 400 minutes from 12 games, and he failed to score a goal or register an assist for West Ham. He then moved to Celtic in 2020, where he managed nine goals and five assists from 48 games.

The attacker left Celtic permanently for Turkish side Gaziantep last summer and then returned to Basel earlier this year.

“Things haven’t gone so well at Celtic, Sturm Graz and Gaziantep in the last two and a half years with all the injuries. But I don’t like to look back, I prefer to look forward,” Ajeti explained.