‘I was totally dropped’ – Ex-Celtic star Albian Ajeti reveals moment he realised he’d NEVER wear Hoops again
ALBIAN AJETI admits he can't put his finger on why his move to Celtic didn't work out as planned.
The striker was signed for a hefty £4.5million fee in 2020 from Premier League outfit West Ham with the aim of banging in the goals on the way to helping Celts win ten-in-a-row.
Neither of those things happened as Ajeti struggled to find the net and the Hoops finished 25 points behind Rangers in the Premiership title race.
But Ajeti insists he felt comfortable at Celtic as he opened up on his time with the Hoops.
The 25-year-old is currently on loan at Sturm Graz in Austria, having played just 27 league games across two seasons in Glasgow (few of them starts).
He also recalled the moment he knew he was never going to wear the Hoops again last season.
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"I'm telling you, I don't know what went wrong really," he told Football Scotland.
"I felt so comfortable and so confident in that team. Obviously, we had a very, very tough year and we lost the title after nine years in a row, going for the 10. Covid was there.
"I think we started to struggle a little bit and this affected the team, which can happen in football. It was just a tough year for everyone, honestly."
Ajeti was hoping he'd get another year at Celtic Park to show everyone what he was capable of, especially after a bright start to the 2021-22 season.
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He hadn't made the jump with West Ham but prior to that with Basel he boasted an impressive record of 37 goals in 75 games across all competitions with the Swiss outfit and wanted to build on that with Celts.
Ajeti explained: "That was the reason I wanted to stay another year at Celtic, I wanted to show everyone what I'm actually capable of.
"The fans, most of the players haven't actually seen what I'm capable of or what my qualities are because first of all, I haven't played much. I haven't had many starts in both seasons, especially in the second season.
"It was hard for me. I had many good conversations in the pre-season with the manager, Ange. He obviously gave me a lot of confidence throughout the pre-season, I think I had quite a good pre-season.
"As a player, this is what you need after a tough first season, you need confidence. I had this confidence, but game-by-game we were winning, it was hard for me to get into the team.
"After pre-season, I wasn't playing much. For me, there was not much to do other than to accept it and just work even harder to make pressure in training at least.
"In September, that's when I had my first start of the season. I got my opportunity there and I wanted to show it too much.
"I played four games or something, Ross County at home, Betis away and there was another Cup game at home. I don't think I did that bad, I still scored three goals and assisted one. But this is football."
The Swiss international revealed how tough it was to work his way back from injury only to find himself completely bombed from the first team under Ange Postecoglou.
A hamstring injury against Real Betis in December 2021 was his final outing.
Upon recovering he was sent to train with the reserves, if not himself.
Ajeti said: "Honestly, when I realised I wouldn't play again was when I came back from an injury and I was just training by myself or sometimes with the second team.
"I just realised after my injury I was totally dropped, I was not training with the team, I was training separate most of the time, and that was a very tough time for me."
Despite his lack of game time, Ajeti speaks no ill of his coaches or his teammates while in Scotland.
He said: "Listen, I can't say anything bad about the club, the history, the fans, my teammates. To be honest, I'm very sad that it just didn't work out as I hoped for.
"I tried very hard, I've been working very hard during my time at Celtic. This is football. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. I had to accept it, it wasn't easy, it was very tough.
"Honestly, I don't have any regrets at all. I will just look back and say it was unfortunate that it didn't work out as they and I hoped for. It's a special club, it's a very special club, I know that. So I'm telling you, I would definitely not regret anything, even though I probably had the toughest time of my career so far, especially the second year. But, I will not regret it."
Ajeti isn't shutting the door on life at Celtic for good, however.
He's now finding his form again in Austria with three goals in his first three starts in the league.
"Listen, you never know. I still have two years contract there at Celtic," he said.
"I will try and get as much game time here as possible and score as many goals as possible, staying healthy obviously. Then we will see what happens at the end of the season.
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"I'm just finding my form again and finding happiness again after being mostly on the bench and not playing much. I'm trying to get back to my fitness level. I'm just enjoying it and playing in a new team which is great."
On joining Sturm Graz permanently, Ajeti commented: "That is something I can't really tell you now. We'll have to see by the end of the next season."
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