Kristoffer Ajer
Full nameKristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer[1]
Birth date17 April 1998 (age 28)
Birth placeRælingen, Norway
Height1.98 m[2]
PositionCentre-back / Right-back[3]
CurrentclubBrentford
Clubnumber20
Youthyears 1–2009
Youthclubs 1Rælingen
Youthyears 22010–2014
Youthclubs 2Lillestrøm
Years 12013–2014
Clubs 1Lillestrøm II
Caps 18
Goals 12
Years 22014–2016
Clubs 2Start
Caps 254
Goals 29
Years 32016–2021
Clubs 3Celtic
Caps 3115
Goals 34
Years 42017
Clubs 4→ Kilmarnock (loan)
Caps 416
Goals 40
Years 52021–
Clubs 5Brentford
Caps 5109
Goals 53
Nationalyears 12014
Nationalteam 1Norway U16
Nationalcaps 112
Nationalgoals 11
Nationalyears 22015
Nationalteam 2Norway U17
Nationalcaps 22
Nationalgoals 21
Nationalyears 32015
Nationalteam 3Norway U18
Nationalcaps 310
Nationalgoals 36
Nationalyears 42016
Nationalteam 4Norway U19
Nationalcaps 46
Nationalgoals 43
Nationalyears 52017–2018
Nationalteam 5Norway U21
Nationalcaps 55
Nationalgoals 50
Nationalyears 62018–
Nationalteam 6Norway
Nationalcaps 650
Nationalgoals 62
Club-update23:20, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
Nationalteam-update31 March 2026

Kristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays either as centre-back or right-back for 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

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

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] 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

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

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup[a]League cup[b]EuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lillestrøm II2013[22]3. divisjon Group 342————42
2014[22]3. divisjon Group 340————40
Total82————82
Start2014[22]Tippeligaen13100———131
2015[22]Tippeligaen30824——2[c]03412
2016[22]Tippeligaen11031———141
Total54955——206114
Celtic2016–17[23]Scottish Premiership0000001[d]0—10
2017–18[24]Scottish Premiership24050104[e]0—340
2018–19[25]Scottish Premiership280403010[f]1—451
2019–20[26]Scottish Premiership283304015[g]1—504
2020–21[27]Scottish Premiership35110208[h]0—461
Total1154130100382—1766
Kilmarnock (loan)2016–17[23]Scottish Premiership16010———170
Brentford2021–22[28]Premier League2412020——281
2022–23[29]Premier League901000——100
2023–24[30]Premier League2821020——312
2024–25[31]Premier League2400010——250
2025–26[32]Premier League2401030——280
Total10935080——1223
Career total302182452003822038625
  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

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Norway201860
201980
202050
202160
202220
202361
202460
202591
202620
Total502

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Kristoffer Ajer
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 September 2023Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, NorwayJordan2–06–0Friendly
2.25 March 2025Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, HungaryIsrael3–14–22026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Celtic

Brentford B

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Kristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer: Statistikk" [Kristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer: Statistics] (in Norwegian). Norwegian Football Federation. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer". Norwegian Football Federation. Archived 2020-10-24 at the Wayback Machine. 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. ^
  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 2021-10-02.
  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". celticfc.net. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  13. ^ "The hard bargaining that brought Kristoffer Ajer to Celtic". The Herald. 16 February 2016. 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". brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Brentford hammer Southampton to leave Ralph Hasenhuttl facing fans' fury". The Independent. 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" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Football Federation. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  21. ^ Bratland, Tore Ulrik (23 March 2018). "Holdt avtale med død bestefar i debuten" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  22. ^
  23. ^
  24. ^
  25. ^
  26. ^
  27. ^
  28. ^
  29. ^
  30. ^
  31. ^
  32. ^
  33. ^ "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  34. ^ Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
  35. ^ "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  36. ^ "Brentford B 2 Blackburn U21 1". brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  37. ^ "James Forrest, Steve Clarke & Ryan Kent win PFA Scotland annual awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  • Profile at the Brentford F.C. website