Bringing Trondheim “back to the top”
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Alfred Finnbogason has taken on his first major official position in professional football. The former FC Augsburg striker signed with Rosenborg BK immediately on Wednesday. He gained his first management experience in his native Iceland at Breidablik. The first transfer that falls during his term in Trondheim is already perfect.
Finnbogason signed a contract until 2030 with the 26-time Norwegian champion, who failed in the Conference League qualification against FSV Mainz 05. After signing the 73-time Icelandic international, it took less than 24 hours for Rosenborg to present their first new signing after the end of the 2025 championship round. Jonas Svensson (32) is coming back to Trondheim, where he made the jump to the professionals in 2011 and was under contract until the end of 2016.
The former Norwegian international recently agreed with former club Besiktas in Istanbul to terminate the contract, which was actually valid until the summer. The right-back is now tied to Norway until the end of 2027. “I have dreamed of returning, actually since I left,” explained Svensson in a club statement on Thursday. He had played abroad for nine years since leaving Rosenborg; longest at AZ Alkmaar. From 2021 he was under contract with Adana Demirspor for another two and a half years before moving on to Besiktas at the beginning of 2024.
Finnbogason: Lead Rosenborg back to the top
For Finnbogason, it is now a matter of developing a sporting concept at Rosenborg and overseeing the search for the “best talents from Trøndelag,” as the club puts it. “The club has an excellent reputation in European football and is known for its attacking style, inspired by Dutch football,” said Finnbogason, who played 122 times for FC Augsburg as a striker and scored 39 goals. Other stations in his career included SC Heerenveen and Real Sociedad. The focus on the offensive was one of the reasons why he applied to Trondheim.
There, Finnbogason is “convinced that together we will lead Rosenborg back to the top of Norwegian and international football.” The former series champion last won the title in the elite series in 2018 as well as the cup and super cup victory. Since 2019, the championship has mostly been won by Bodø/Glimt or Molde. Last year Viking Stavanger triumphed for the first time since 1991. Rosenborg is currently only in fifth place in terms of squad value and finished the 2025 season in seventh place in the table.
