National team player and Bodø resident Fredrik André Bjørkan has landed in Bodø. It is expected that the left-back will sign for the parent club, after a rather short and unsuccessful stay at the German club Hertha Berlin. Bjørkan was recently on loan to the Dutch club Feyenoord, but only made one appearance at the club for national team colleague Marcus Holmgren Pedersen. – It will be very nice to come home, says Bjørkan as he meets the press at Bodø Airport on Wednesday. Patrick Berg and Fredrik Bjørkan celebrate in front of the Glimt fans. Both ventured out into the wider world to try their luck. But both have now returned to Bodø. Photo: Mats Torbergsen – Now I have found out what the training is like out there. I know that Glimt is a fantastic place to develop further. A lot has changed since Bjørkan last played for the Bodø team, but that does not stop the attitude: – The culture in the team and the way of working internally is the same. I want to contribute and leave my mark on the team According to himself, his form is good and he is ready for training as soon as possible. Bjørkan says he is now ready to tackle Norwegian football, but makes no secret of the fact that his boyhood dream of making it abroad has not been put on ice. – It will be something for the future, he says. Terminated contract Bjørkan has had his contract with Hertha Berlin terminated, and thus comes to Glimt for free. – It was a mutual agreement to terminate the contract. I think it is the best for all parties. He thus becomes the third player since last summer to resign for Glimt after trying his luck abroad. 29 August 2022. Patrick Berg signs 5-year contract with Glimt after being bought back from French club RC Lens. 31 August 2022. Marius Lode signs a contract with Glimt until 2025 after an unsuccessful stay at the German club Schalke 04. 4 January 2023. Fredrik André Bjørkan lands in Bodø after an unsuccessful stay at German Hertha Berlin and a loan stay at Dutch Feyenoord. Fredrik André Bjørkan when he signed for Hertha Berlin after the golden season for Glimt in 2021. Photo: Hertha Berlin The common denominator is that all three became Norwegian national team players in Bodø/Glimt, but have barely got playing time in their new foreign clubs. A total of 976 minutes in 36 games. That amounts to an average of half a game per game. Now all three are back in place at Aspmyra. Playing time Glimt profiles abroad Patrick Berg RC Lens: 345 minutes Fredrik André Bjørkan Hertha Berlin: 356 minutes Feyenoord: 69 minutes Marius Lode Schalke 04: 206 minutes A total of 976 minutes (in 36 games – 27 minutes on average) for three players, or approx. 10 full matches, including extras. (sources Transfermarkt / Jan P Saltvedt) Saltvedt: – Not entirely positive Jan Petter Saltvedt is news’s sports commentator, and has followed Glimt closely in recent years. He says that there is a striking tendency for Glimt to apparently sell players with a kind of trade-in right when things go badly. – It is also not entirely positive for Glimt as a selling club, which they occasionally depend on to be, partly to motivate players with continental ambitions to come to them, partly to simply make money. He points to Glimt’s playing system as a strong factor in the fact that players do not shine as brightly when they come outside the safe confines of coach Kjetil Knutsen. – If an impression takes hold, the skepticism to trade a number of players from Glimt could increase outside Europe, although I do not think the danger of that is imminent. Last year, Patrick Berg returned in the same way to Aspmyra. However, he is not the only one in the Berg family who returned from abroad without tremendous success. – Even a giant like Ørjan Berg, Patrick’s father, never got the international breakthrough many had expected when he left Nils Arne Eggen’s system in Rosenborg. After 66 games in three clubs, he also symbolically returned to Bodø and Glimt to restart his career. But when it comes to the sporting quality, Kjetil Knutsen could not have received better reinforcements, says Saltvedt. – These are players who know the system, culture and expectations and who can go straight into the team and strengthen it. So in the short term this is very good news for Glimt. Working hard with logistics Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen has told news that they are working very hard with player logistics. – We do not have a full group. But we have a much better starting point this year than we had last year, he says to news. – How many do you want in? – I am not concerned with the number of new players. I am concerned with quality and types that fit into Glimt and that we have good coverage in all places. And there is no shortage of rumours: According to, among others, Telemarksavisa, Glimt has tried for Odd’s Swedish goalkeeper Leopold Wahlstedt. Currently without a pacifier. According to the online newspaper Bold.dk, Bodø/Glimt are very close to signing left back Adam Sørensen (22) from Lyngby. Bjørkan can thus have a direct competitor for left-back in 2023. Varden wrote on Tuesday that Glimt should be interested in centre-back Odin Bjørtuft. Tidens Krav and others believe that Kristiansund’s striker Pemi Faris is wanted at Aspmyra. Names such as Tromsø’s August Mikkelsen and Brann’s Niklas Jensen Wassberg have also been rumored for Aspmyra.
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Fredrik André Bjørkan ready for comeback in Bodø/Glimt – news Nordland
