Ole Kristian Selnæs (born 7 July 1994) is a Norwegian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for Swiss club Zürich as a defensive midfielder. Between 2015 and 2019, he made 32 appearances for the Norway national team scoring twice. He is the son of former Rosenborg goalkeeper Ivar Selnæs.– Drømmen er A-kontrakt
fvn.no

Club career

Early career

Selnæs was born in Trondheim,Ole Selnæs profilen
rbk.no but lived in Lillestrøm when his father Ivar Selnæs was head coach of Skjetten SKSelnæs mister to kamper
rbkweb.no and he was playing in the youth department of the same club. His family later moved back to Trondheim, with Selnæs joining

Sverresborg IF Sverresborg Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club from Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag. It has sections for association football, team handball and basketball ("Sverresborg Hoops"). It was founded on 30 October 1931, named after the fortress Sve ...

Rosenborg

When Selnæs joined Rosenborg in 2009, he was earmarked for his accurate left foot and good knowledge of the game, which allowed him to develop as a defensive midfielder. In 2011, he was heavily involved in the Rosenborg under-19 side that won the national championshipStegavik avgjorde for Rosenborg
fotball.no and gained third place in their

NextGen Series The NextGen Series was a European football club cup competition for under-19 footballers. It was designed to provide players with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European footballers of their agegroup in a competitive envi ...

group.About Rosenborg
nextgenseries.com Despite still being barely known from outside the club,– Jeg er ikke redd for noe
aftenposten.no he was being recognised internally with an integral part of the first team's 2012 pre-season.Selnæs fikk stipend
rbk.no His impressive pre-season was rewarded when, on 25 March, he signed a professional contract.A-lagskontrakt for Selnæs
rbk.no He started the season as back-up to the midfield pair of

Mohammed-Awal Issah Mohammed-Awal Issah (born 4 April 1986) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Issah began his career by Real Sportive before signing a two-year contract with AmaZulu in the South Afric ...

and

Markus Henriksen Markus Henriksen (born 25 July 1992) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Club career Rosenborg Henriksen moved from Trond IL to Rosenborg as a boy. He proved himself early on as an ...

,Selnæs blir forfremmet
rbkweb.no but soon became first choice beside Henriksen.Altomfotball profilen
altomfotball.no His professional debut came against Lillestrøm on 1 April 2012, when he came on as a late substitute for Issah.17-åring hjemmedebuterer for Rosenborg
tv2.no The next week, he made his first start at home to

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...

.Bør Selnæs starte mot FFK?
aftenposten.no After four league matches he was named the biggest talent in Scandinavia by the web-site ''scan-scout.com'', which did not surprise Rosenborg's head coach

Jan Jönsson Jan Jönsson (born 24 May 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former player. Career Playing career He spent most of his playing career with Halmstads BK. Coaching career Between 1993 and 1994 he was the Sanfrecce Hiroshima assistant coac ...

: "He has developed very fast, but I'm not surprised." Selnæs was a regular in Rosenborg's midfield during the first half of the 2012 season, but lost his place in the starting line-up due to an injury. After his recovery, Rosenborg had bought

Tarik Elyounoussi Tarik Elyounoussi ( ar, طارق اليونسي, ', ; born 23 February 1988) is a professional footballer who plays for Japanese club Shonan Bellmare. His preferred position is a forward, but he can also play as a winger. Club career Born in ...

Cristian Gamboa Cristian Esteban Gamboa Luna (born 24 October 1989), commonly known as Cristian Gamboa, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club VfL Bochum and the Costa Rica national team. Gamboa is an internati ...

and

Jaime Alas Jaime Enrique Alas Morales (born 30 July 1989) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga Nacional club Municipal and the El Salvador national team. Club career Alas' professional career began in July 2006, ...

and Selnæs' chances were limited. But he stated in an interview with NRK in September 2012 that "I am only 19 years old and have plenty of time, and will work hard to get more chances for the first-team".

Saint Etienne

Selnæs joined

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

on 31 January 2016.

Shenzhen

On 9 February 2019, Selnæs transferred to Super League newcomer Shenzhen.

Zürich

On 24 June 2022, Selnæs signed a one-year deal with Zürich in Switzerland. His first goal scored with his new team was an own goal in the match against Glimt in UEFA Europa League the 15 september 2022.

International career

Selnæs represented his country from under-16 to under-21 youth level. As of February 2021, he made 32 appearances for the senior national team.

Personal life

Selnæs is a huge fan of

Hotel Cæsar ''Hotel Cæsar'' is a Norwegian soap opera that aired on TV 2 from 24 October 1998 until 14 December 2017. From the start in 1998, the show was broadcast Monday to Friday, except during the autumn of 2006, where the show was broadcast Monday t ...

, and in an interview with Adresseavisen in March 2012 he stated that he would love to play a role in the Norwegian soap opera. Two months later he was offered a small speaking role in the TV series.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Selnæs goal.''

Honours

Individual

* Eliteserien Player of the Year:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Eliteserien Midfielder of the Year:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selnaes, Ole Kristian 1994 births Living people Footballers from Trondheim Association football midfielders Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Norway youth international footballers Rosenborg BK players AS Saint-Étienne players Shenzhen F.C. players Hebei F.C. players FC Zürich players Eliteserien players Ligue 1 players Chinese Super League players Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in China Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland