Background
His father is former Croatian international Kujtim Shala.
His father is former Croatian international Kujtim Shala.
Beginning his career in the youth team at Hannover 96, Shala joined VfR Mannheim in January 2008 on a short-term deal. Shala joined United in pre-season for the 2008-2009 season, with manager Craig Levein calling him a "decent prospect" and stated that he had "high hopes for him". Shala arrived in mid June 2008 with fellow new signing Michael McGovern.
He made his debut as a substitute in an August 2008 Scottish League Cup match.
He made his league debut in February 2009, and with his first touch of the ball, set up Lee Wilkie to score the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He was released by United in the summer of 2011, and returned to Germany to sign for Hallescher Football Club. After earning promotion to the 3.
Liga in the 2011-2012 season, he left Halle to sign for Carl Zeiss Jena in January 2013. Eighteen months later he signed for Berliner Football Club Dynamo.
In late December 2009, Shala was the subject of interest from the national team, with team manager Josip Kuže confirming he was intending to watch the player.
In an interview for the n newspaper Sporti Shqiptar, Shala stated his willingness to play for, and stated that if he never got called up for the squad, that he would not consider playing for any other country.