Norway’s Mathias Kjølø has been fighting for a permanent place in a Twente side battling at the top of the Dutch honors division, and has started nine out of ten games this season, but that doesn’t mean that’s where Kjelså’s Boys team will end up.

The 22-year-old was part of PSV Eindhoven’s academy for several years, playing for their youth team – PSV Jong – under the management of former top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy.

In the winter of 2022, the players learned that van Nistelrooy would take over the first team after the season, and Kjølø saw his chance to follow his coach to the next level.

He explained to Nettavisen that he didn’t get the message he was hoping for when the United legend called him into his office for a chat.

– Both he and the club wanted me in the A team, but I was told that the chances of playing there were not what I thought and wanted. I wanted to play as much as possible in the A team, but Ruud said that the playing opportunities were not what I thought. This made me start to wonder if there were other interests, either in the Netherlands or in other countries, Kjølø told Nettavisen by telephone.

Before the summer, Kjølø visited Twente’s manager and sporting director, and was also given a personal tour of the training ground and facilities.

His feelings told him to stay in the Netherlands and before the 22/23 season he signed a contract with FC Twente – a choice he has now made good on.

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Moved from Norway when he was 16 years old

Leaving PSV for Twente is not the first difficult choice Kjølø has made in his short career to date. In 2016, when he was only 17 years old, he left his hometown of Oslo and moved to the Netherlands to pursue his professional dreams.

Just three months earlier he had signed with Vålerenga, after the youth team he had joined at Kjelsås had disbanded.

The 17-year-old has not been promised gold and green forests by his new club before signing, and only has a one-year deal to fall back on when he makes the trip south.

The 22-year-old’s father is also football agent Mike Kjølø, who started agency agency Keypass AS together with Morten Wivestad. His client list includes big names such as Sander Berge, Alexander Sørloth and Joel Mvuka – along with Mathias Kjølø.

Before deciding to accept the offer, he consulted with his mother and father, but Kjølø explained that he was the one who made the firm decision.

– I really only see dad as a father and not as an agent. He gave me a lot of great input and advice on things going on around football and my daily life, but the choice to move abroad was 100% my choice. “That’s because I’ve always dreamed of playing abroad, and the development I could get in the Netherlands that I saw during the trials would be perfect for me,” said Kjølø.

His choice would be the right one, as after six months in the Netherlands, he had already been told by PSV management whether they wanted him to continue. Kjølø rose through the youth ranks and was eventually transferred to PSV Jong, who played in the second level in the Netherlands.

It is similar to the OBOS league in Norway, but according to Kjølø both the skill and understanding of the game are much higher than in Norway. In total, he managed to record 75 matches at senior level for PSV Jong, even though he was still young.

– It was a really good learning curve for me – both playing against mature players who had previously played in the Eredivisie and playing in front of several thousand people at such a young age.

– Have taken the level well

If we fast forward to November 2023, it is clear that Kjølø has been paid handsomely for the choices he has made throughout his career. He has played in FC Twente’s midfield, and struggled at the top of the Eresdivisie – the sixth best league in the world according to official rankings.

This season, Twente have picked up three points against Feyenoord and Ajax – European football’s biggest forces to be reckoned with – with Kjølø on the pitch. He wasn’t intimidated by the level he was facing.

– No, everything went well. Since I came to the club last summer, I feel like I have achieved this level well. I was ready to move up to the A team last summer, and that actually went pretty well.

A jaw injury suffered in February earlier this year made the path to a permanent spot more difficult for the midfielder, but after the club changed coaches this summer, he has become an important part of the team.

Now he wants to continue the good form he and the team have shown so far this season, and secure a place in one of Europe’s best play-off tournaments next season.

– Twente’s achievements in recent years also show that the aim is to finish in the top four/five and fight for the play-offs in Europe. We’ve done that successfully in the last two seasons that I’ve been involved, and we want to build on that this season and.

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Haven’t heard anything from Solbakken

Despite the fact that his father works as an agent and has contacts across Europe, the 22-year-old is clearly in no rush to move.

– At the moment I feel very comfortable at Twente, and I want to finish this season and next year. At least that’s the plan, says Kjølø.

As Kjølø is now 22 years old, he is now too old to play for the U21 national team. Thus, the A national team was the only opportunity Kjølø had to represent his country.

The Oslo native reflected on his chances when Nettavisen asked him if he should be relevant to the squad now that he is playing regularly in the Eresdivisie.

– What can you say? There are many good midfielders in the Norwegian national team, so I chose to focus only on me and me, so that the withdrawal will only happen when it happens. But that’s not something I focus on, explains Kjølø.

So far, he has not heard anything from Ståle Solbakken or anyone else in or around the national team, but if he continues his form in the Eresdivisie, he will likely have a good chance of making the squad in the future.