Kristoffer Ajer
Norwegian footballer (born 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays either 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]
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Ajer with Norway in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kristoffer Vassbakk Köpp Ajer[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 April 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Rælingen, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[2] | ||
| Position | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Brentford | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –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 | 105 | (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 | 48 | (2) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:41, 12 February 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 16 November 2025 | |||
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
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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
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 12 February 2026
| 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 | ||||
| 2024–25[31] | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||||
| 2025–26[32] | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 105 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 117 | 3 | ||||
| Career total | 298 | 18 | 23 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 381 | 25 | ||
- Includes Norwegian Cup, Scottish Cup, FA Cup
- Includes Scottish League Cup, EFL Cup
- Appearances in Tippeligaen relegation play-offs
- Appearance in UEFA Champions League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- Five appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and in UEFA Europa League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 16 November 2025 [33]
| 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 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 48 | 2 | |
Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 September 2023 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway |  Jordan | 2–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 25 March 2025 | Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary |  Israel | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Celtic
- Scottish Premiership: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[34]
- Scottish Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[35]
- Scottish League Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20[36]
Brentford B
Individual
