Valentin Gasper Gjokaj (born 23 August 1993) is an Swiss-

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who plays as a defender.

Club career

FC Luzern

Born in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

, Gjokaj began his career at hometown Swiss club

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league s ...

and played for the club's under-18 team before having trial at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes a in a reserve pre-season friendly against Chorley, which Rovers won 2–1. After this trial Gjokaj returned to Luzern and featured 14 times for the second team in the 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. However he failed to get a deal and Gjokaj was released by Luzern at the end of the season.

Derby County

In July 2012, ahead of the 2012–13 season, Gjokaj went on trial at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, featuring in a pre-season friendly against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 25 July 2012. Gjokaj impressed in this game and was given further run outs against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. Gjokaj returned to his home in Switzerland, but Derby manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was ...

was keen to sign him. Gjokaj signed a two-year contract with the club, with an option of a third year on 18 August 2012. Gjokaj made his competitive first team début in a 2–2 draw against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

on 18 August 2012, as an 87th minute substitute for

Will Hughes William James Hughes (born 17 April 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Crystal Palace. Having graduated a scholarship with Derby County, Hughes made his first team breakthrough during t ...

. Gjokaj spent the following three months as a regular for Derby's under-21 side, before he joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

outfit Carlisle United on loan for six weeks on 22 November. However he was recalled after a month, after making only one appearance as a second-half substitute in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against Bournemouth on 1 December. 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. During the 2013–14 pre-season, Gjokaj took part in Derby's first team friendlies. As confirmed by Nigel Clough, the player was going to be used as cover in central defence for

Jake Buxton Jake Fred Buxton (born 4 March 1985) is an English professional footballer and manager who plays as a defender. He was most recently player-manager for EFL League One club Burton Albion. Career Mansfield Town Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notti ...

and

Richard Keogh Richard John Keogh (born 11 August 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Ipswich Town and for the Republic of Ireland national team. His main positional role is at centre-back, though he has also played at right-back d ...

as more senior options

Shaun Barker Shaun Barker (born 19 September 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Career Rotherham United Born in Trowell, Nottinghamshire, Barker started his career at Rotherham as a junior making his debut in Marc ...

and Mark O'Brien were both recovering from knee injuries. Gjokaj joined

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; an ...

on loan on 14 February 2014. On 18 March 2014, Gjokaj extended his loan stay with the ''Bees'' until the end of the 2013–14 season. His first goal for them came in a 2–1 win over

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

on 5 April 2014. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win at

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

on 19 April, scoring from outside the box. 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. He made his debut on 22 November in a 2–2 draw at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

during second half injury time. Gjokaj's only goal for Gateshead came on 7 February 2015 in an FA Trophy tie against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Gjokaj was sent off for a second time while at Gateshead on 4 April against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

before being released at the end of the season.

SSV Reutlingen 05

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

SGV Freiberg SGV Freiberg is a German association football club from the city of Freiberg am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was formed out of the 1973 union of ''SGV Heutingsheim'' and ''TSV Beihingen''. The roots of the Heutingsheim club go ...

International career

Gjokaj was eligible for both Switzerland and Albania at international level and in January 2013, Gjokaj was called up for the Albania under-21 for their friendly against Macedonia under-21 on 6 February. 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 Agon Xhevat Mehmeti (born 20 November 1989) is an Albanian former professional footballer who last played as a striker for Örebro SK. Club career Malmö FF Mehmeti began his football career at IFK Malmö before moving to join Malmö FF in 2 ...

and fellow Albania U21 players

Haxhi Neziraj Haxhi Neziraj (born 16 March 1993) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a attacking midfielder for SC Buochs. Club career Flamurtari Vlorë On 30 January 2017. Neziraj joined Albanian Superliga side Flamurtari Vlorë. On 1 February ...

, Amir Rrahmani & Herolind Shala.Ekskluzive: Agon Mehmeti dhe 4 lojtarë të shpresave marrin shtetësi shqiptare
aSport.al

Career statistics

;Notes ¹Other appearances include

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, FA Community Shield, FA Trophy and

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

appearances.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gjokaj, Valentin 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Lucerne Swiss people of Albanian descent Swiss footballers Albanian footballers Association football defenders FC Luzern players Derby County F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players SSV Reutlingen 05 players English Football League players National League (English football) players Swiss expatriate footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany