Valentin Gjokaj

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Valentin Gjokaj
Gjokaj with the Albania U21
Personal information
Full name Valentin Gasper Gjokaj
Date of birth (1993-08-23) 23 August 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth Lucerne, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
 –2011 FC Luzern
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 FC Luzern II 14 (4)
2012–2014 Derby County 6 (0)
2012 → Carlisle United (loan) 0 (0)
2014 → Barnet (loan) 14 (2)
2014–2015 Gateshead 19 (0)
2016 SSV Reutlingen 05 15 (1)
2021–2022 SC Buochs 21 (0)
International career‡
2013 Albania U21 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:00, 22 December 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:00, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

Valentin Gasper Gjokaj (born 23 August 1993) is a Swiss-Albanian professional footballer who plays as a defender.

Club career

FC Luzern

Born in

1.Liga Group 3 during the 2011–12 season, scoring 4 goals after he made his début in March 2012 against GC Biaschesi. In May 2012, Gjokaj had a trial at Premier League club Newcastle United.[2] However he failed to get a deal[3] and Gjokaj was released by Luzern at the end of the season.[3][4]

Derby County

In July 2012, ahead of the

Championship side Derby County, featuring in a pre-season friendly against Mansfield Town on 25 July 2012.[3] Gjokaj impressed in this game and was given further run outs against Burton Albion[5] and Northampton Town.[6] Gjokaj returned to his home in Switzerland, but Derby manager Nigel Clough was keen to sign him.[7] Gjokaj signed a two-year contract with the club, with an option of a third year on 18 August 2012.[4]

Gjokaj made his competitive first team début in a 2–2 draw against

Bournemouth on 1 December.[10] Upon his return at Derby, Gjokaj was again mainly featuring for the club's under-21 team and as an unused substitute for the first before, before making his first start at right back in Derby's 1–1 draw at Cardiff City on 5 March 2013.[11]

During the

Mark O'Brien were both recovering from knee injuries.[12]

Gjokaj joined

Nuneaton Town on 19 April, scoring from outside the box.[16]
In total, he scored twice in his 14 appearances for the Bees.

Gateshead

Following his release from Derby County, Gjokaj signed for Gateshead on 18 November 2014.[17] He made his debut on 22 November in a 2–2 draw at Torquay United, being sent off during second half injury time.[18] Gjokaj's only goal for Gateshead came on 7 February 2015 in an FA Trophy tie against Wrexham.[19] Gjokaj was sent off for a second time while at Gateshead on 4 April against Grimsby Town[20] before being released at the end of the season.[21]

SSV Reutlingen 05

In February 2016, Gjokaj signed for SSV Reutlingen 05.[22] He made his debut on 13 February in a 0–2 defeat to SGV Freiberg.[23]

International career

Gjokaj was eligible for both Switzerland and Albania at international level and in January 2013, Gjokaj was called up for the

Macedonia under-21 on 6 February.[24]
Gjokaj played the full 90 minutes of the game, which ended 0–0.

On 4 June 2013, Gjokaj received the Albanian citizenship among Albania senior side Agon Mehmeti and fellow Albania U21 players Haxhi Neziraj, Amir Rrahmani & Herolind Shala.[25]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Luzern II 2011–12
1.Liga Group 3
 14 4 — — — 14 4
Derby County 2012–13[26]
Championship
 6 0 — — — 6 0
2013–14[27] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Carlisle United (loan) 2012–13[26]
League One
 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
Barnet (loan) 2013–14[27] Conference Premier 14 2 0 0 — — 14 2
Gateshead 2014–15[28] Conference 19 0 1 0 — 4 1 24 1
SSV Reutlingen 05 2015–16[29] Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
Career total 68 7 2 0 0 0 4 1 74 8
  1. play-off

References

  1. ^ a b c "2011/12 Pre-Season: Chorley 1 Rovers Reserves 2". BRFCS. 11 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Newcastle Offer Trials To Christophe Lowinsky and Valentin Gjokaj". Sky Tyne & Wear. 10 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "New faces are given a run-out as Derby County suffer friendly defeat against Mansfield Town". Derby Evening Telegraph. 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Gjokaj Deal done". Derby County F.C. 18 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Valentin Gjokaj and James Caton will get another chance to impress". Derby County F.C. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Gjokaj Given More Time To Impress". Derby Evening Telegraph. 31 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Derby County Keen to Sign Swiss defender Valentin Gjokaj". Derby Evening Telegraph. 3 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Derby 2–2 Sheff Wed". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012.
  9. ^ "TRANSFER: Rams defender signs up". Carlisle United. 22 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Derby County recall Valentin Gjokaj from Carlisle loan". BBC Sport. 18 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Cardiff 2–2 Derby". BBC Sport. 5 March 2013.
  12. ^ "Nigel Clough in no rush to land central defender for Derby County". Derby Telegraph. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  13. ^ Happy Valentin's Day
  14. ^ "Gjokaj Loan Extended". Barnet FC. 18 March 2014.
  15. ^ Barnet 2 – 1 Forest Green Rovers
  16. ^ Nuneaton Town 0 – 1 Barnet
  17. ^ "One in, one out". Gateshead FC. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Torquay United 2-2 Gateshead". Gateshead FC. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Gateshead 2-2 Wrexham AET (Wrexham win 5-3 on penalties)". Gateshead FC. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  20. ^ "Grimsby Town 2-2 Gateshead". Gateshead FC. 4 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  21. ^ "Gateshead confirm retained and released list". Gateshead FC. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  22. ^ "SSV verpflichtet vier Neuzugänge" (in German). SSV Reutlingen 05. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  23. ^ "SSV verliert in Freiberg mit 0:2" (in German). SSV Reutlingen 05. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  24. ^ "Derby defender Valentin Gjokaj named in the Albania Under-21 squad for friendly against Macedonia". Sky Sports. 29 January 2013.
  25. ^ Ekskluzive: Agon Mehmeti dhe 4 lojtarë të shpresave marrin shtetësi shqiptare aSport.al
  26. ^ a b "Games played by Valentin Gjokaj in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Games played by Valentin Gjokaj in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  28. ^ "V. Gjokaj". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  29. ^ "Valentin Gjokaj » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 12 June 2024.

External links

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