Ten years ago, Kristoffer Ajer was a fresh-faced teenager trying to make a name for himself in the colours of the mighty Celtic.
The towering defender signed for Celtic from his homeland of Norway, and he would go on to be part of one of the club’s most dominant periods in its history.
Fast forward to the present, and Ajer is still creating history, but this time on world football’s biggest stage with Norway.
On Sunday, Norway beat Brazil to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time, and to say Ajer had a mixed-emotion game would be an understatement.
Which former Celtic player are you picking to come back?
Kristoffer Ajer overcomes penalty nightmare to help Norway beat Brazil
It was a nightmare start for Celtic’s Treble-winning hero, as he gave away a penalty after fouling Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha just after ten minutes.
Fortunately for Ajer, Ørjan Nyland saved Bruno Guimarães’ penalty, allowing the Brentford defender to showcase the calmness and quality for the rest of the game that made him a fan favourite at Celtic.
It was headlined by the brilliance of Erling Haaland, who netted a stunning brace to down the might of Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil.
But don’t underestimate Ajer’s performance. He bounced back from that penalty to deliver an outstanding display under immense pressure against formidable attackers.
Time and time again, during Ajer’s time in Glasgow, he dealt with the pressure of wearing Celtic’s colours, and now he has taken that onto the world stage.
| Defensive contributions | Tackles won | Interceptions | Clearances | Recoveries | Ground duels won | Aerial duels |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Ajer’s journey is now paying off…
Ideally, Celtic would love to keep these star players at the club. But from a financial perspective, Scottish football is now a world away from most of Europe.
Therefore, the champions of Scotland understand that players like Ajer sign as unknown figures, before being sold for a healthy fee, and then shining on a more lucrative stage.
It’s fair to say that Celtic’s call to sign Ajer from IK Start in 2016 has now paid dividends, because on top of being a reliable Premier League player, he is also a World Cup quarter-finalist.
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