Ajet Shehu (born 31 December 1990) is an English retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Career

Early career

Shehu was born in

Rahovec Rahovec ( sq-definite, Rahoveci) or Orahovac ( sr-Cyrl, Ораховац), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Gjakova in western Kosovo. According to the 2024 census, the town ...

, modern day Kosovo, but moved to England with his family as a child to escape the conflicts in the Balkans, settling in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

. He attended Islington Arts and Media School, where he was part of the school team that won the Camden and Islington Cup in 2005, and where he caught the attention of scouts from

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

who eventually signed the player to their academy. During his time at college he studied BTEC Sports, and he also joined an agency called Protec who offered Ajeti trials with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He decided to join Tottenham full-time and signed a two-year contract in 2007, but after only a handful of games for the club's academy and joined

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

under-18s on loan in 2007, before also being loaned out to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

's under-18s. He also had loan spells at non league sides

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

, Staines Town and

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

during his time at Tottenham, as well as going on trial with

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

in April 2009 after begin told he would not be offered another contract by Tottenham, before also going on trial with

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Post Tottenham

Ajeti joined League Two side

on a non contract basis in the summer of 2009 following his release from Tottenham, but he failed to make an appearance for the club during his short spell. By September 2019, he had retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shehu, Ajet 1990 births Living people People from Rahovec Footballers from the District of Gjakova Kosovan emigrants to the United Kingdom Kosovan men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Barnet F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Ware F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players FC Gramozi players Codicote F.C. players Harrow Borough F.C. players Kategoria e Parë players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate men's footballers in Albania