Kristoffer Ajer is on the transfer wishlist of the English Premier League side, Everton. The Norwegian joined Brentford at the start of the 2021/22 season from Scottish giants Celtic after spending five years at the club. He impressed in his first season with the Bees, and Everton are interested in signing him. The defender is strong in the air and isn’t afraid of contesting duels. He played for a Brentford side that defended well throughout the season.
The Norwegian made 24 appearances for the Bees and missed a few games due to injuries. He scored a goal and also helped in setting up three goals for his side. Brentford usually played in a back three and operated with two wing-backs. The above viz shows that Ajer played towards the right side of the back three and covered a lot of areas on the pitch. His heat map shows that the player has covered some areas in the attacking third. He made some forward runs and, overall, took 21 touches inside the opposition’s penalty box.
The above viz shows all the duels that were contested by the defender. It can be observed that most of the duels contested by him have been defensive duels, followed by aerial duels and loose ball duels. He contested 5.26 defensive duels, 3.31 aerial duels and 2.56 loose ball duels per 90 minutes, respectively. Of these, he won 29.5% of defensive duels, 57.39% of aerial duels, and 58.43% of loose ball duels. It can be observed that he has contested quite a few duels inside the opposition’s penalty. He attempted ten shots in total and had a high shot accuracy rate of 50%.
The above viz shows all the 166 interceptions that were made by Ajer throughout the season. He averaged 4.77 interceptions per 90 minutes. Most of the interceptions were made in the defensive third. It can be observed that Ajer is strong while contesting duels and has made most of the interceptions by winning duel after duel. Other than this, Ajer averaged 9.86 recoveries per 90 minutes, and 1.87 of them were made inside the opposition’s half. He was also very disciplined as he only averaged 0.52 fouls per 90 minutes.
Ajer averaged 48.57 passes per 90 minutes with an accuracy rate of 87.8%. He averaged 7.33 passes into the attacking third per 90 minutes and had a high accuracy rate of 70%. One of the things that were noticeable was that the defender averaged 0.83 through passes per 90 minutes.
Kristoffer Ajer is just 24-years-old and has a lot to offer. He can pass the ball and can defend his team’s goal. The player was ever-present in Brentford’s backline and has adjusted well to life in the English Premier League. He could be a valuable signing and Everton could acquire him at a low price.
