sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays 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. Ajer played as a midfielder when he was at Start but when he was at Celtic he switched to a defender, presumably due to his height.[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 (age 24)
Place of birth	Rælingen, Norway
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back[3]
Club 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	29	(1)
National team‡
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	27	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:38, 7 May 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 September 2022

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]

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]

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.[18]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 May 2022

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lillestrøm II	2013[19]	3. divisjon Group 3	4	2	—		—		—		—		4	2
	2014[19]		4	0	—		—		—		—		4	0
	Total		8	2	—		—		—		—		8	2
Start	2014[19]	Tippeligaen	13	1	0	0	—		—		—		13	1
	2015[19]		30	8	2	4	—		—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	34	12
	2016[19]		11	0	3	1	—		—		—		14	1
	Total		54	9	5	5	—		—		2	0	61	14
Celtic	2016–17[20]	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2017–18[21]		24	0	5	0	1	0	4	0	—		34	0
	2018–19[22]		28	0	4	0	3	0	10	1	—		45	1
	2019–20[23]		28	3	3	0	4	0	15	1	—		50	4
	2020–21[24]		35	1	1	0	2	0	8	0	—		46	1
	Total		115	4	13	0	10	0	38	2	—		176	6
Kilmarnock (loan)	2016–17[20]	Scottish Premiership	16	0	1	0	—		—		—		17	0
Brentford	2021–22[25]	Premier League	22	1	1	0	2	0	—		—		25	1
Career total			215	16	20	5	12	0	38	2	2	0	287	23

International

As of match played 27 September 2022[18]

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
Total		27	0

Honours

Celtic

• Scottish Premiership: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[26]
• Scottish Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[27]
• Scottish League Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[28]

Individual

• PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2018–19 Scottish Premiership[29]

References

External links

• Kristoffer Ajer at Soccerbase
• Kristoffer Ajer at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)

На других языках

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[de] Kristoffer Ajer

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (* 17. April 1998 in Rælingen, Norwegen) ist ein norwegischer Fußballspieler auf der Position eines Innenverteidigers, der seit 2021 im Aufgebot des englischen Erstligisten FC Brentford steht. Mit 16 Jahren und 355 Tagen war er am 7. April 2015 beim Erstrundenspiel des Spieljahres 2015 gegen seinen ehemaligen Klub Lillestrøm SK jüngster Kapitän in der Geschichte der Tippeligaen.[1]

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- [en] Kristoffer Ajer

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[es] Kristoffer Ajer

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (Rælingen, Noruega, 17 de abril de 1998), conocido como Kristoffer Ajer, es un futbolista noruego que juega como defensa en el Brentford F. C. de la Premier League.[3]

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[fr] Kristoffer Ajer

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer, né le 17 avril 1998 à Rælingen en Norvège, est un footballeur international norvégien. Pouvant évoluer au poste de défenseur central ou de milieu de terrain, il joue actuellement pour le Brentford FC.

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[it] Kristoffer Ajer

Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (Rælingen, 17 aprile 1998) è un calciatore norvegese, difensore del Brentford e della nazionale norvegese.

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[ru] Айер, Кристофер

Кристофер Айер (норв. Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer; 17 апреля 1998, Релинген, Норвегия) — норвежский футболист, центральный защитник английского клуба «Брентфорд» и сборной Норвегии.

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