I’ve been big debt collector

ALBIAN AJETI has revealed he owes a debt both to his family and to FC Basel after completing his move to Celtic.

Ajeti’s family made huge sacrifices to flee to Switzerland from war-torn Kosovo and he was put on the road to stardom at the FC Basel academy.

He said: “My family had to move to Switzerland and there I went to school, to the Basel Academy and started my football.

“It was not possible to live in Kosovo any more during the war.

“For me, it was quite easy to grow up in Switzerland.

“It was more difficult for my parents, as they came at an age when it was not so easy to learn new things. I came with my brothers when we were really, really young, so it was quite easy to grow up with the schooling, the language and the football, so it wasn’t that difficult for me.

“Basel liked to work with Kosovar Albanians and they’ve had a lot of success with them, as they have with Egyptian players.

“My time in Basel was very good as I did my whole academy there and got a lot of trust from the club.

“They have a very good football school, they care a lot about their players and that’s what makes the club so special. My time in Basel was like being in a second family. It was really good.”

While Ajeti has won 10 caps for Switzerland, but his older brother Arlind chose to play for Albania.

Ajeti said: “You don’t forget what happened to us and that’s why my older brother decided to play for Albania.

“It makes him proud to play for that country but, for me, it was not a problem to play for Switzerland.”