Julian (25) fulfilled the dream. Then ring the phone in the middle of the night:
“It turns fast in football”, many a football player and coach has said on autopilot in casual TV interviews after matches. The striker from Horten can see it with a little more conviction after it was experienced at the end of August last year.
He had just fulfilled the dream of debuting in Italian Serie A when he was traded to AS Roma for newly promoted Salernitana.
– I came home to the apartment at eleven o’clock. I was very happy. Then the phone rings from the director of the club at one in the morning, says Kristoffersen to TV 2.
In Italy, clubs can only register a certain number of players for the Serie A squad when the transfer window closes. This was the night before the last day of the window and Salernitana had dealt with several players on the pitch.
– Then he tells me that “you must leave tomorrow”. Damn brutal. It was the last day of the window. Then I have an apartment, everything. I was very happy, got my debut against Roma and thought «ah, now I’m secured». It was a difficult conversation. It was zero warning, says the 199 centimeter tall striker.
– How do you feel about being treated like this?
– It almost doesn’t work. Give me a week, at least, to look at the terrain. I don’t think that’s a fair way to treat people.
The next day he had to clean up the apartment, pack all his things and travel south to Cosenza to sign a loan agreement with the Serie B club.
He was one of ten players who were brought in hastily at the end of the window. It didn’t take long before he realized that he wasn’t even wanted by the coach. It ended with 54 minutes of playing time, not a single game from the start.
– It was not a successful stay, sighs Kristoffersen.
He accepts TV 2 at a beach bar in Salerno and justifies the choice by saying that there are many tourists there, so we can sit in peace. Where the locals hang out, he is usually stopped by Salernitana fans all the time.
Dropped out of school
The story of Julian Kristoffersen from Horten is special. He dropped out of high school and moved to Copenhagen when he was 16 years old, sacrificing everything to pursue his dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
– Everyone else went to school. I went private. We trained once a day. I was very lonely. It was hard.
He stayed in the Danish capital for five years, trained under Ståle Solbakken and refers to it as “extremely good schooling”.
He then spent a year and a half in Sweden’s Djurgården before Hobro bought him back to Denmark. Among other things, TV 2’s football expert Yaw Amankwah is played.
– How did living on your own abroad since you were 16 shape you?
– I grew up too much. I could handle myself. I feel like I’ve seen so many different in football how people are treated, good and bad. I have met many different people. It makes you wiser, says Kristoffersen.
– Everyone was like: «What?!»
Kristoffersen played on the Norwegian U21 national team with, among others, Martin Ødegaard. But he would have to take a completely different path than his teammate.
At the beginning of 2020, a special offer appeared, and at the beginning of March it became clear: Kristoffersen moved to South Korea and signed a one-year contract with the Jeonnam Dragons.
He talks about reactions to the election. The coronavirus was at this time in the process of declining throughout Europe and in South Korea the situation was coming to an end.
– Everyone was like: «What?! Do you want to go there?” I got quite a few reactions to my going against the virus. But I wasn’t that nervous about it myself, says Kristoffersen.
– Maybe it’s no secret that you went there for the money?
– I have to be honest and say that it was the finances that made me go down.
– How much do you earn then?
– In any case, you earn much better than you do in Scandinavia.
Cursed to tears
Despite the money, the year in South Korea was a tough one for the Norwegian. Football certainly took its course quite quickly, but he didn’t get to see his family for a year, and the encounter with the culture was brutal.
– It was a shock. Extremely much training, extremely hard training, we lived at the clubhouse and I had my own interpreter who accompanied me all the time. No one spoke English. He followed me on the field. It was tiring and special, says Kristoffersen.
– How did it go for you?
– That period was very hard. It was tough mentally. With an eight-hour time difference, it was very difficult to keep in touch with the family.
Everyday life consisted of training every day. He only stayed at the training facility. All meals are shared and compulsory.
– What was the most special thing you experienced there?
– South Korea was extreme in the way that there was no mercy, and the pressure of expectations on players from the coaches and owners. They were extremely hard on the players. I once saw a player who was released so hard that he started to cry. They scream in your face. The players were nervous all the time. A culture of fear, says Kristoffersen.
He finished the stay with seven goals and assists in 24 games.
Kristoffersen believes there is much to learn in such stories for young Norwegian footballers who want to succeed.
– I have been very strong mentally from the journey I have had. I think many people might give up too easily. I’ve had a lot of adversity, but that’s what it’s like to stick with it and just keep going. I think that is one of my strengths.
Nervous days
He has shown that once again this year. Even after an unsuccessful loan to Cosenza, and in a club with new owners who invest huge sums in the transfer market, Kristoffersen has suffered quickly.
He is the only one left from the Salernitana squad that was part of the 2020/21 promotion season when he signed early in the 2021 spring season and joined up to Serie A.
– It was an experience I will never forget. It was a party in the city for a week, he says.
In this year’s season build-up, he scored a hat trick and became the team’s top scorer.
Now he is back where he was before the shock announcement after his debut against Roma last August.
Kristoffersen once again got a chance against Roma last weekend, but with just a few days left in the transfer window, it is not yet certain that he will be included in the Serie A squad.
There are still rumors about the club trying to sign a big and strong forward, like compatriot Jørgen Strand Larsen from Groningen.
– You almost have to count on it at this level. It’s part of the game. But you think your own way, of course, says Kristoffersen.
These are nerve-wracking days for many Salernitana players. Already for just over a month, some of them have been training for themselves because the club wants to get rid of them.
Every day a message ticks into the players’ common WhatsApp group. There may be new players immediately who, in plenary session, receive written notice that they must train on their own.
For the time being, Kristoffersen is in heat. The question is whether he will continue to be so on the night of 2 September.
– I have received very good feedback, but I have learned that you never know in football. I know it can be very nice, but it’s not something I can do about it. What happens, happens, says Julian Kristoffersen.