Håvard Nordtveit
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Håvard Nordtveit | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | UD Salamanca | ||
| Number | 45 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 August 2008 | |||
Håvard Nordtveit (born 21 June 1990 in Vats, Norway) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Unión Deportiva Salamanca and the Norway under-19 football team.
Career
Norway
Nordtveit began his career as a youth in Norway with Vats 94 and Skjold IL, and later Haugesund, the club where he made his professional debut in 2006. He made nine league appearances during the 2007 season for Haugesund in the Norwegian Adeccoligaen. [1]
Arsenal
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger went to Norway on 11 June 2007 to watch an Adeccoligaen match and begin negotiations to sign Nordtveit. [2] The members of the FKH board stated that the club had rejected Arsenal's initial bid. The player himself said that his club was asking for a "supernaturally high" transfer fee. The price being quoted in the Norweigan media was 20 million Norwegian kroner [3] (approximately £1.5 million). A transfer fee was later finalized on 3 July 2007 for £500k initially, rising to £2m after 40 first team appearances.
Haugesund captain Kevin Nicol and former Norway coach Nils Johan Semb praised him as the brightest defensive talent in Europe.[4]
He made his Arsenal debut in their first pre-season friendly against Barnet F.C. on 14 July 2007. He came on after half-time, replacing Kerrea Gilbert. He was named captain of Arsenal's reserve squad for the first match of the 2007-08 FA Premier Reserve League season; in an interview with Arsenal.com, Nordtveit said he was "honoured" to have been named captain, and that he hoped to continue in that role in the future.
In the final game of the 2007-08 season he was named on the substitutes' bench against Sunderland. He was a regular for the Norway U-19 squad during their qualification campaign for the 2008 UEFA U-19 Championship, but his nation were unable to qualify for the final stage.
Unión Deportiva Salamanca
On 18 August 2008, Unión Deportiva Salamanca -- Arsenal's Spanish link club -- signed him on loan for 2008-2009 season to play in the Segunda División along with another young Arsenal player, Pedro Botelho.