Florent Hoti (born 11 December 2000) is a professional

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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club Halifax Town and the Kosovo national under-21 team. He has previously played for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

, and had a loan spell at Forfar Athletic. Born in England, he is a youth international for

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Club career

Having been part of

's academy since the age of 10, Hoti signed for the club on a two-year scholarship in 2017. He made his debut for Rochdale on 4 September 2018, coming on as a 79th minute substitute in a 2–1 home victory against Bury in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

. On 7 November 2018, he started in Rochdale's 2–2 draw at home to Leicester City Under-23s in the

. Hoti was offered his first professional contract with the club at the end of the 2018–19 season. Hoti had a trial at

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

in August 2020, and signed a two-year contract with the club for an undisclosed fee the following month. He joined

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club Forfar Athletic on loan in October, then returned to Dundee United in January 2021 following the suspension of the lower divisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his debut for Dundee United on 10 April 2021 in a 1–0 Scottish Premiership win away to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

, with Dundee United manager

Micky Mellon Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is the manager of club Oldham Athletic. As a player, he was a midfielder for clubs including Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackp ...

stating that "he has come on and showed what a lad of great promise he is." On 11 November 2022, Hoti signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

on a short-term deal. On 25 January 2023,

confirmed that Florent had left the club. In March 2023, Hoti joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on a short-term deal after a successful trial. On 9 May 2023 the club announced he was being released.

International career

Hoti was selected to participate in an Albania national under-21 team's training camp and practice matches in March 2021, but was unable to join the squad due to COVID-related travel restrictions. Two months later, he received a call-up from Kosovo national under-21 team for a

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Romania and Georgia in the 2023 UEFA European Under- ...

match against Andorra U21, and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Personal life

Hoti was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, to Kosovo-Albanian parents from the Hoti tribe. This makes him eligible to represent all three nations of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

internationally.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoti, Florent 2000 births Living people Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers English people of Kosovan descent English people of Albanian descent Footballers from Manchester Men's association football midfielders Rochdale A.F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Scotland English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen