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Kristoffer Ajer

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Kristoffer Ajer
Ajer playing for Celtic in 2018
Personal information
Full name Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer[1]
Date of birth (1998-04-17) 17 April 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Rælingen, Norway
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, right-back[3]
Team information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 20
Youth career
0000–2009 Rælingen
2010–2014 Lillestrøm
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Lillestrøm II 8 (2)
2014–2016 Start 54 (9)
2016–2021 Celtic 115 (4)
2017 → Kilmarnock (loan) 16 (0)
2021– Brentford 61 (3)
International career‡
2014 Norway U16 12 (1)
2015 Norway U17 2 (1)
2015 Norway U18 10 (6)
2016 Norway U19 6 (3)
2017–2018 Norway U21 5 (0)
2018– Norway 37 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:33, 12 May 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2024

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as centre-back or right-back for Premier League club Brentford and the Norway national team. Ajer has previously played for Start in the Tippeligaen and Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, where he also had a loan spell with Kilmarnock.[3]

Early and personal life

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Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer was born in Rælingen, Akershus County in Norway on 17 April 1998.[4] In his younger years he participated in athletics, handball and ice hockey before ending up playing football.

As a youth player he originally started his footballing career at Rælingen FK before joining Lillestrøm SK when he was eleven years old.[5] He was eventually picked up by IK Start in 2014, which marked the start of his professional footballing career as a result of his parents moving to the city of Kristiansand on the Southern coast of Norway.[5]

While playing professionally for IK Start, he attended Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle (High School) where he was known as a very conscientious and diligent student receiving a total of 18 straight A's. He attributed this to his strong competitive instinct and self-discipline, as well as the support from his teachers and parents and the fact that he values having a good education outside of his footballing career.[6] Ajer originally planned enrolling at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo while simultaneously playing football professionally, but he has since put those plans on hold.[7] On the reasons why he excelled as a footballer, he attributed this to his early physical development, strength and maturity:

I feel like I've been pretty lucky in my career. I was developing physically from a very early age: When I was six years old I was two heads taller than the rest of the players on the field. After a match where we won 30–0, I accounted for 26 goals. I remember I was refused to play the next matches of the tournament if I could not prove my age. After this, my mother always had my passport with her when I was playing football matches.[8]

He is also a mentor/ambassador for the Equinor campaign for future athletes, entrepreneurs and talents in Norway called Morgendagens Helter ("Heroes of Tomorrow").[8]

Club career

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Start

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He made his professional debut for Start on 19 July 2014 in a 2–1 win against Bodø/Glimt.[9]

Ajer playing for Celtic in 2018

At 16 years of age, Ajer captained Start in a 1–1 draw against Lillestrøm on 7 April 2015, becoming the youngest ever footballer to captain a team in the Tippeligaen.[10] While playing for IK Start he played both as a central midfielder, but was gradually placed as a central defender.

Celtic

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In early January 2016, Ajer had a one-week trial with Scottish club Celtic.[11] On 17 February 2016, he signed a four-year contract with Celtic and joined the club in June 2016 for a fee which could rise up to £650,000.[12][13] He was loaned to Kilmarnock in January 2017 and returned to his parent club to become a mainstay in central defence.[14] On 14 May 2018, Ajer penned a new four-year deal with Celtic.[15] On 30 August, Ajer scored his first goal for Celtic in a 3–0 win against FK Sūduva.[16]

On 24 October 2019, Ajer made his 100th appearance in all competitions for Celtic's first team in a Europa League match against Lazio.

Brentford

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On 21 July 2021, Ajer completed a move to Premier League club Brentford on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[17] He made his Premier League debut on 13 August 2021 in a 2–0 win against Arsenal. He scored his first goal for Brentford against Southampton on 7 May 2022.[18]

On 21 November 2023, Ajer signed a new deal with Brentford until the summer of 2028, with the club keeping an option to extend his contract for a further season. He scored his second goal against Burnley on 16 March 2024.[19]

International career

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On 13 March 2018, Ajer received his first call-up to the Norwegian senior squad for friendly matches against Australia and Albania,[20] debuting in the former match to honour his late grandfather.[21]

Career statistics

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Club

[edit]
As of match played 11 May 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Lillestrøm II 2013[22] 3. divisjon Group 3 4 2 — — — — 4 2
2014[22] 4 0 — — — — 4 0
Total 8 2 — — — — 8 2
Start 2014[22] Tippeligaen 13 1 0 0 — — — 13 1
2015[22] 30 8 2 4 — — 2[c] 0 34 12
2016[22] 11 0 3 1 — — — 14 1
Total 54 9 5 5 — — 2 0 61 14
Celtic 2016–17[23] Scottish Premiership 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[d] 0 — 1 0
2017–18[24] 24 0 5 0 1 0 4[e] 0 — 34 0
2018–19[25] 28 0 4 0 3 0 10[f] 1 — 45 1
2019–20[26] 28 3 3 0 4 0 15[g] 1 — 50 4
2020–21[27] 35 1 1 0 2 0 8[h] 0 — 46 1
Total 115 4 13 0 10 0 38 2 — 176 6
Kilmarnock (loan) 2016–17[23] Scottish Premiership 16 0 1 0 — — — 17 0
Brentford 2021–22[28] Premier League 24 1 2 0 2 0 — — 28 1
2022–23[29] 9 0 1 0 0 0 — — 10 0
2023–24[30] 28 2 1 0 2 0 — — 31 2
Total 61 3 4 0 4 0 — — 69 3
Career total 254 18 2 5 16 0 38 2 2 0 331 25
  1. ^ Includes Norwegian Cup, Scottish Cup, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes Scottish League Cup, EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in Tippeligaen relegation play-offs
  4. ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Five appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of match played 8 June 2024[31]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Norway 2018 6 0
2019 8 0
2020 5 0
2021 6 0
2022 2 0
2023 6 1
2024 4 0
Total 37 1

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Kristoffer Ajer
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 September 2023 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway  Jordan 2–0 6–0 Friendly

Honours

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Celtic

Brentford B

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer". Norwegian Football Federation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b Henderson, Mark (16 June 2016). "New Celtic signing reveals his favoured position | CelticFC | First Team News". Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ Kristoffer Ajer at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Drømmen oppfylles i feil drakt". Romerikets Blad. 26 October 2014.
  6. ^ AS, TV 2 (24 May 2018). "Kristoffer Ajer med 18 seksere på vitnemålet". TV 2. Retrieved 2 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "– At jeg fikk 18 seksere er mest honnør til skolen, ikke meg". TV 2. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Kristoffer Ajer". morgendagenshelter.no. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  9. ^ Johnsen, Sture (19 July 2014). "Start-Bodø/Glimt: 2–1 (0–0)". IK Start. Archived from the original on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  10. ^ Nash, Matthew (7 June 2015). "Tottenham and Liverpool chasing Norwegian wonderkid Kristoffer Ajer". HITC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Kristoffer Ajer: Celtic take Norwegian midfielder on trial". BBC. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Kristoffer Ajer signs four-year deal with Celtic". www.celticfc.net. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  13. ^ "The hard bargaining that brought Kristoffer Ajer to Celtic". www.heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Kilmarnock sign Celtic's Kristoffer Ajer on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Kristoffer Ajer: Celtic defender signs new four-year contract". BBC Sport. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Griffiths makes it a century of goals as Celts beat Suduva | CelticFC | Match Report". 12 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Brentford complete signing of Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Brentford hammer Southampton to leave Ralph Hasenhuttl facing fans' fury". www.independent.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Ajer signs new Brentford contract". Brentford F.C. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  20. ^ Madsen, Christer (13 March 2016). "Her er troppen til kampene mot Australia og Albania". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  21. ^ Bratland, Tore Ulrik (23 March 2018). "Holdt avtale med død bestefar i debuten". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d e Kristoffer Ajer at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
  23. ^ a b "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  30. ^ "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Kristoffer Ajer". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  32. ^ "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  33. ^ Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
  34. ^ "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  35. ^ "Brentford B 2 Blackburn U21 1". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  36. ^ "James Forrest, Steve Clarke & Ryan Kent win PFA Scotland annual awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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