Kristoffer Ajer-Scouting Report

Player Profile:

Name: Kristoffer Ajer

Age: 22

Nationality: Norwegian

Club: Celtic

Position: Centre back

Introduction:

Kristoffer Ajer is a 6ft6 centre back for Celtic and has been in Scotland for 4 years after joining from Ik Start in Norway for a bargain of £600,000. Ajer is capable of operating just in front of the defence or centre back, the latter being his most preferred. This season for Celtic Ajer has played on the left side of central defence next to his defensive partner Christopher Jullien.

When analysing Ajer I watched games of him playing in both the SPFL and the Europa League to get a better overall insight into his game. Note that all metrics and stats stated are from the games he’s played in the Europa League as I don’t have access to SPFL data.

In Possession

Ajer plays in a team which dominate the ball therefore players all across the pitch players have to contribute to build up play and have to be comfortable progressing the ball. This is one of Ajer’s biggest strength, with his excellent ball control and passing skills he plays as a modern day ball-playing centre back in Celtic’s system.

Passing

Ajer’s range of passing is superb, able to play a vary of passes to the centre back alongside him, to the full-back and is also capable of splitting the lines with a clever pass into the half space averaging 3.33 passes into the final third p90. He can comfortably play the ball long when needed and they are always the right weight to be able to find a teammate. Ajer is also very composed in possession to and rarely passes to a man in the wrong shirt completing 82.43% of his passes p90. His passing capabilities are very useful when looking to initiate a counter-attack.

When receiving the ball, Ajer has a great first touch and is able to get the ball out of his feet easily when passing, however due to him being deployed at left centre back for Celtic I would like to see his him attempt to complete more passes with his left foot. This would create more angles when passing and would allow him to contribute even more in build-up play. I do think however Ajer would be much more suited to playing right centre back instead.

Here’s a lengthy clip of Ajer’s excellent passing abilities:

Progressive dribbling

To add to Ajer’s brilliance when passing the ball, he is also more than capable of carrying the ball out of the back himself and evading the first line of pressure. As well as taking long strides aggressively with the ball, to my surprise he also maintains great ball control abilities and at times this season has used clever footwork and agility to play the ball out of trouble. When carrying the ball, he always looks up at the same time, and at the end of his run picks out the right pass.

Data-wise, Ajer completes a number of 0.93 dribbles p90 which is a great amount for a centre back and he carries the ball a progressive distance of 144.1 yards p90.

Defending:

Slide tackling

One thing that you learn from about 10 minutes into ant game when watching Ajer is that he loves a slide tackle. More times than not he is clean in the tackle and manages to win the ball, then retains it after. However sometimes Ajer slides when he can stand his man up and others he can just be too rash and aggressive. If he can just slightly mend his discipline and decision making he will be fine as his ability to win the ball back with a sliding challenge is impressive so if he just learns when and when not to slide he will be a better more disciplined centre back. Here’s an example of Ajer being rash with a slide tackle.

1v1 Defending

Ajer’s abilities on the ball have always been there, it’s his defensive ones that were sometimes questioned last season. While he is still not the finished article his defensive work has definitely improved especially when defending 1v1. He’s now more patient and puts the challenge in at the right time when his opponent has no where else to go and he has actually developed into a good ball-winner averaging 2.27 tackles p90.

To go with his way of winning the ball, Ajer is also skilled at reading play and intercepting the ball by stepping out of his defensive line well to win the ball of a misplaced pass and also clearing crosses from the flanks completing a number of 1.73 interceptions p90.

Here’s clips of Ajer’s defending below:

Duels and Physicality:

By looking at Ajer the first thing that strikes you is his side and build. Ajer is 6ft6 has long legs and is also quite lean and skinny so there’s no shock when you see how fast he is when watching him play! Ajer is very quick and when he does make a mistake (which isn’t often) he retains excellent recovery speed to win the ball back.

You’d expect of a player that size is that they’d have excellent aerial abilities but for Ajer, while he does win a lot in the air, doesn’t win as much as you’d expect only winning 65% of his aerial duels p90. You would also assume of a player his stature he’d win the majority of his defensive duels, he can be very strong in the tackle but sometimes he doesn’t come out on top, winning 66% of his defensive duels p90. While these numbers aren’t totally horrendous I would like to see them improve a tad.

Conclusion:

While Ajer still has a few tweaks to make to his game, and maybe I’ve been too harsh on his win percentages in duels, he is more than capable of being able to play for a Premier League club and has already been linked with some big big names, Leicester City and AC Milan being the most recent to my knowledge.

Ajer’s admirable abilities of bringing the ball out the back won’t go un-noticed to clubs looking for a centre-half as he possesses all the attributes to what a modern centre back needs, and there’s every chance he moves on this summer. I have no doubt that when he has fully learnt the role of a defender that he will go far in the game, what more could you want when you have a 6ft6 ball-playing centre half!