Kristoffer Ajer

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as centre-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]

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
Place of birth Rælingen, Norway
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-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 37 (1)
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 29 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2023

Early and personal life

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer was born in Rælingen, Viken County in Norway on 17 April 1998.[4] In his younger years he was doing 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

Start

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

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

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]

International career

On 13 March 2018, he was called up for the first time in the senior national team, ahead of the friendly matches against Australia and Albania, scheduled for the following 23 and 26 March respectively. He made his debut on 23 March, in a 4–1 victory over the Australia national team.[19]

Career statistics
As of match played 20 May 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club   Season   League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lillestrøm II 2013[20] 3. divisjon Group 3 4 2 — — — — 4 2
2014[20] 4 0 — — — — 4 0
Total 8 2 — — — — 8 2
Start 2014[20] Tippeligaen 13100———131
2015[20] 30824——2[lower-alpha 1]03412
2016[20] 11031———141
Total 54955— — 206114
Celtic 2016–17[21] Scottish Premiership 00000010—10
2017–18[22] 240501040—340
2018–19[23] 2804030101—451
2019–20[24] 2833040151—504
2020–21[25] 351102080—461
Total 1154130100382— 1766
Kilmarnock (loan) 2016–17[21] Scottish Premiership 16010———170
Brentford 2021–22[26] Premier League 2412020——281
2022–23[27] Premier League 901000——100
Total 3313020—— 381
Career total 226162251203822030023
  1. Appearances in Tippeligaen relegation play-offs

International
As of match played 7 September 2023[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Norway 201860
201980
202050
202160
202220
202311
Total281

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 September 2023Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Jordan2–06–0Friendly

Honours

Celtic

Brentford B

Individual

References
  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. 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. "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.
  7. "– At jeg fikk 18 seksere er mest honnør til skolen, ikke meg". TV 2. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  8. "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. "PKristoffer 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. "Kristoffer Ajer". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  20. Kristoffer Ajer at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
  21. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  22. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  23. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  24. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  25. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  26. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  27. "Games played by Kristoffer Ajer in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  28. "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  29. Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
  30. "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  31. "Brentford B 2 Blackburn U21 1". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  32. "James Forrest, Steve Clarke & Ryan Kent win PFA Scotland annual awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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