Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson (born 18 February 1995) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Alanyaspor, on loan from Premier League side Arsenal, and the Iceland national team. He has also previously played for Dijon, Nordsjælland and KR Reykjavik.
![]() Rúnarsson with Dijon in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1995-02-18) 18 February 1995 (age 27) | ||
Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Alanyaspor (on loan from Arsenal | ||
Number | 13 | ||
Youth career | |||
2012–2013 | KR Reykjavik | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2013–2014 | KR Reykjavik | 3 | (0) |
2014–2018 | Nordsjælland | 60 | (0) |
2018–2020 | Dijon | 36 | (0) |
2020– | Arsenal | 1 | (0) |
2021–2022 | → OH Leuven (loan) | 18 | (0) |
2022– | → Alanyaspor (loan) | 10 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2011 | Iceland U16 | 2 | (0) |
2012 | Iceland U17 | 1 | (0) |
2012 | Iceland U18 | 2 | (0) |
2012–2014 | Iceland U19 | 9 | (0) |
2013–2016 | Iceland U21 | 17 | (0) |
2017– | Iceland | 19 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:57, 2 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:16, 28 September 2022 (UTC) |
Rúnar Alex is the son of Rúnar Kristinsson, a former professional footballer.[2][3]
Rúnar Alex was player of the season for FC Nordsjælland in the 2017–18 Danish Superliga.[4]
In June 2018, Rúnar Alex joined Dijon on a four-year agreement.[4]
On 21 September 2020, Rúnar Alex signed for Premier League club Arsenal on a four-year deal. He chose the number 13 at the club.[5] Rúnar Alex made his debut for the club on the 29th October 2020, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 UEFA Europa League win over League of Ireland side Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium.[6] [7] After first choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno was sent off against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 February 2021, Rúnar Alex made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Thomas Partey in a 2–1 away defeat.[8]
On 31 August 2021, Rúnar Alex joined Belgian First Division A club OH Leuven on loan until the end of the season.[9] On 27 October 2021, Rúnar Alex made his first appearance of the season for OH Leuven in their 2–1 Belgian Cup win over Lierse Kempenzonen,[10] with his league debut coming one month later on 26 November 2021 in a 1–3 away win to league leaders Union SG.
On 15 August 2022, Arsenal announced that Rúnar Alex was loaned to Süper Lig side Alanyaspor.[11]
Having previously represented his country at youth level, Rúnar Alex was called up to the senior Iceland squad for the 2017 China Cup, where the team became the silver medalist[12][13] He earned his first senior cap in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 9 November 2017.
In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[14]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
KR Reykjavik | 2013 | Úrvalsdeild | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
Nordsjælland | 2013–14 | Danish Superliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
2014–15 | Danish Superliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
2015–16 | Danish Superliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
2016–17 | Danish Superliga | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 0 | ||||
Total | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 60 | 0 | |||||
Dijon | 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
Total | 36 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 | |||
Arsenal | 2020–21 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
2021–22 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
2022–23 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
OH Leuven (loan) | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | |||
Alanyaspor (loan) | 2022–23 | Süper Lig | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
Career total | 128 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 146 | 0 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Iceland | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
2018 | 4 | 0 | |
2019 | 0 | 0 | |
2020 | 2 | 0 | |
2021 | 5 | 0 | |
2022 | 7 | 0 | |
Total | 19 | 0 |
Alanyaspor – current squad | |
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Iceland squad – 2018 FIFA World Cup | ||
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