Morten Thorsby

Morten Thorsby

Personal information
Date of birth	(1996-05-05) 5 May 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Oslo, Norway [1]
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) [2]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Genoa
Number	2
Youth career
0000–2009	Heming
2010–2011	Lyn
2012–2013	Stabæk
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Stabæk	14	(1)
2014–2019	SC Heerenveen	115	(12)
2019–2022	Sampdoria	92	(7)
2022–2024	Union Berlin	24	(1)
2023–2024	→ Genoa (loan)	24	(2)
2024–	Genoa	0	(0)
International career‡
2012	Norway U16	14	(0)
2013	Norway U17	13	(2)
2014	Norway U18	6	(2)
2014–2015	Norway U19	4	(1)
2014–2018	Norway U21	28	(7)
2017–	Norway	20	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:55, 24 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2024

Morten Thorsby (born 5 May 1996) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Genoa and the Norway national team.

Club career

Stabæk

Thorsby started his youth career in IL Heming but joined FK Lyn in 2009. ^[3] While playing in Lyn he was drafted into the boys-15 national team. ^[4] In 2012, he joined the youth ranks of Stabæk. ^[5]

He made his first team debut in the 2013 1. Divisjon, as a substitute in four matches. ^[1] Stabæk was promoted, and he made his first-tier debut in April 2014 against Molde.

SC Heerenveen

On 2 June 2014, Thorsby signed a five-year contract with Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen. ^{[6] [7]}

Sampdoria

On 11 January 2019, Thorsby signed a four-year pre-contract with Serie A side Sampdoria. The contract will run through the 2023 season. He joined the club on 1 July 2019. ^{[8] [9]} He made his debut on 4 November in the 1–0 away win against SPAL, in which he played the full match. ^[10] After that game he slowly rose in the team's hierarchy, ^[11] becoming a starter in midfield alongside Albin Ekdal. ^[12] On 21 June 2020, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria scoring the 2–1 consolation goal in the away defeat to Inter Milan. ^{[13] [14]}

The following year, he was confirmed as a starter alongside Ekdal, ^[12] and he scored 3 goals in 35 total appearances. ^[15]

The day before the start of the 2021–22 season, Thorsby decided to change his jersey number from 18 to 2 to raise awareness about the Paris Agreement – the number 2 signifying the first aim of the agreement to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C". ^{[16] [17]}

Union Berlin

On 19 July 2022, German club Union Berlin announced Thorsby's signing. ^[18]

Genoa

On 1 August 2023, Union Berlin sent Thorsby on a season-long loan to Serie A side Genoa, with a conditional obligation to buy at the end of that period. ^{[19] [20]}

Personal life

Thorsby is known for his commitment to environmentalism and is an advocate for stronger actions on climate change. He established the We Play Green foundation to encourage the football community to adopt environmentally friendly initiatives, and has met with municipal and national leaders in Italy while at Sampdoria in support of improved climate policy. ^{[21] [22]} In August 2021, he switched his shirt number to 2 to raise awareness of climate change. The digit represents the target of the internationally-adopted Paris Agreement of keeping global warming "well below" 2 °C above pre-industrial times, in order to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. ^[23] He was named 'Young Athlete of The Year' at The BBC Green Sport Awards 2022. ^[24]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 May 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stabæk	2013	1. divisjon	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0	[25]
	2014	Tippeligaen	10	1	2	1	—		0	0	12	2	[25]
	Total		14	1	2	1	—		0	0	16	2	—
Heerenveen	2014–15	Eredivisie	16	0	1	1	—		1	0	18	1	[15]
	2015–16	Eredivisie	25	1	2	0	—		0	0	27	1	[15]
	2016–17	Eredivisie	23	0	3	0	—		2	0	28	0	[15]
	2017–18	Eredivisie	31	6	2	0	—		2	0	35	6	[15]
	2018–19	Eredivisie	20	5	2	0	—		0	0	22	5	[15]
	Total		115	12	10	1	—		5	0	130	13	—
Sampdoria	2019–20	Serie A	24	1	1	0	—		0	0	25	1	[15]
	2020–21	Serie A	33	3	2	0	—		0	0	35	3	[15]
	2021–22	Serie A	35	3	3	1	—		0	0	38	4	[15]
	Total		92	7	6	1	—		0	0	98	8	–
Union Berlin	2022–23	Bundesliga	24	1	2	0	8 [lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	34	1	[15]
Genoa (loan)	2023–24	Serie A	24	2	3	0	—		0	0	27	2	[15]
Career total			169	23	23	3	8	0	5	0	303	26	–

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 9 September 2024 ^[26]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Norway	2017	1	0
	2018	0	0
	2019	0	0
	2020	2	0
	2021	9	0
	2022	5	0
	2023	0	0
	2024	3	0
Total		20	0

References

1. Stabæk Fotball profile
2. "Morten Thorsby". 1. FC Union Berlin. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
3. Mellingsæter, Hanne (9 June 2010). "Solskjærs mann". Aftenposten Aften (in Norwegian). p. 12.
4. "Uttak talentleir fotball" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 30 May 2011.
5. "G16-uttak fotball" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 23 March 2012.
6. "Heerenveen haalt met Thorsby voetbalintelligentie in huis". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 20 June 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
7. Hellerud, Lars Peter Karset (20 June 2014). "Thorsby klar for Heerenveen". Budstikka (in Norwegian). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
8. "Morten Thorsby set to join Sampdoria next season". U.C. Sampdoria. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
9. Baardsen, Joachim (11 January 2019). "Thorsby klar for Sampdoria – mangedobler lønnen sin". VG Nett (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang . Retrieved 7 August 2019.
10. "Spal-Sampdoria, finisce 0-1. Decide Caprari al 91'. I tweet dallo stadio. La cronaca del match". Il Secolo XIX (in Italian). 4 November 2019.
11. "Thorsby è una boccata d'ossigeno: Porto in Liguria la battaglia per il clima". Il Secolo XIX (in Italian). 29 November 2019.
12. "Il 2020 di Morten Thorsby alla Sampdoria". Samp News 24 (in Italian). 27 December 2020.
13. "Sconfitti con onore: Thorsby e il cuore non bastano, il recupero va all'Inter". U.C. Sampdoria (in Italian). 21 June 2020.
14. "La prima volta di Thorsby: Contento solo per il gol". U.C. Sampdoria (in Italian). 21 June 2020.
15. "Morten Thorsby » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
16. "Thorsby: Segno per l'ambiente. Coi tifosi è un altro mondo". U.C. Sampdoria (in Italian). 16 August 2021.
17. "Paris Agreement". United Nations Treaty Collection. Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
18. "Keine Zeit zu verlieren: Ab zum ersten Training mit dir, Morten" (in German). Union Berlin. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
19. "Morten Thorsby è un giocatore del Grifo" [Morten Thorsby is a Grifo player]. Genoa Cricket and Football Club - Official Website (in Italian). 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
20. "Morten Thorsby loaned to CFC Genoa". www.fc-union-berlin.de. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
21. "Morten Thorsby Brings Climate Activism from Norwegian to Italian Football". GreenSportsBlog. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
22. Thorsby, Morten [@mortenthorsby] (6 August 2020). "Meeting with the environmental minister of Italy @SergioCosta_min in Rome yesterday. Speaking about football and environment, and how football can contribute with education, engagement and concrete action" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 August 2021– via Twitter.
23. "Sampdoria's Morten Thorsby changes shirt number to raise climate awareness". BBC Sport. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
24. "Morten Thorsby: Norwegian footballer named BBC Green Sport Young Athlete of the Year". BBC Sport. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
25. "NIFS - Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
26. Morten Thorsby at National-Football-Teams.com