Aleesami: ‘My story at Bodø/Glimt. We’re ready for Inter Milan’

 

The Norwegian defender spoke to Gianlucadimarzio.com ahead of the Champions League double-header: ‘Two years ago, I was a player-coach, and now I find myself scoring at the Westfalenstadion against Dortmund. Italian football? The best in the world.’

‘It’s been quite cold lately, and despite everything, I still suffer from it sometimes.’ Haitam Aleesami smiles as he talks about his life in Bodø. His Italian-Moroccan accent gives him away, as does the ease with which he switches from talking about Norway to Italy. On 18 and 24 February, his Bodø/Glimt team will face Inter Milan in the Champions League play-off double-header, and he knows what it will take. ‘We’re ready,’ he tells Gianlucadimarzio.com. ‘We’ll need to be very focused. I’m expecting a tough match against a team that knows this competition well.’

Bodø/Glimt is no longer a surprise in European football. The harsh climate, the snow that makes the atmosphere almost magical and the artificial turf at Aspmyra Stadion are details known to all. But Aleesami immediately clarifies to those who think playing there is too difficult: ‘Do we take to the pitch at -10 or -16 degrees? It’s true. Does the artificial pitch make the game more unusual? Yes, it does. But the sport played by the two teams is the same’ he says with a smile.

And speaking of cold weather, we inevitably return to his personal history. ‘I’m very happy here. At this time of year, it’s around -12 or -15 degrees. I’m Norwegian but I have Moroccan roots, so I feel the cold anyway’. Then he laughs: ‘I prefer Mondello to a cold place like this’. He hasn’t forgotten his three years at Palermo – from 2016 to 2019. ‘I miss Italy, but I’m really happy here now. Life is peaceful here: you only think about football and working hard’.

This tranquillity is one of the secrets of the club’s growth. In recent years, Roma, Lazio, Juventus and soon Inter Milan have all visited Bodø. ‘Playing here is different from other countries. I remember Lazio (Europa League quarter-finals, 10/04/25, ed.): the players looked at the pitch a little sceptically during the warm-up. Juventus? They came here with the right attitude, with the right mentality. We learned a lot from that match (Champions League group stage, 25/11/25, ed.)’.

Bodø/Glimt, Aleesami: ‘Performance comes before results. Scoring against Dortmund? Emotional.’

But what was the leap that led Bodø/Glimt to compete in the Champions League against teams such as Atlético Madrid and Manchester City? Aleesami has no doubts: ‘We have clear ideas. We take to the pitch confident and motivated. For us, the most important thing is performance. That’s the priority‘. It’s a new mindset for him too, having experienced very different contexts in his career. ’When I arrived here, I never heard the coach (Kjetil Knutsen, ed.) say, “We have to win”. Obviously, we play to be successful, but the important thing is to work with quality and intensity. It was a new concept for me: I had always heard that winning is fundamental. Here, how you play comes first’.

And it is precisely this philosophy that has accompanied one of the most unusual stories of his career: ‘Two years ago, I was at KFUM Oslo. I was playing and acting as third coach, because in the meantime I had obtained my UEFA B licence. Then I got a call from Bodø/Glimt: I accepted, started playing regularly again and a few months later I scored at the Westfalenstadion against Borussia Dortmund. It was the most exciting goal of my career. You never know where football can take you’.

“Bodø/Glimt is growing. It is no longer forced to sell its talents.”

Today, Aleesami is one of the most experienced players in the Bodø/Glimt squad. The club has grown and is no longer forced to sell its talents as it did in the past. ‘If a young player, even one who is not Norwegian, wants to grow while working in a relaxed environment, this is the right place. There is none of the pressure you find elsewhere. Here, performance comes first. Today, Bodø can develop its players without having to sell them. Of course, if a very high offer comes in from the Premier League… that’s another matter. But we are a rapidly growing club’.  

This growth also depends on the ability to cope with Mørketid – “the time of darkness” – the winter period when the sun does not rise above the horizon. ‘It’s a strange feeling, I always feel a bit tired during that period,’ he admits with a smile. ‘But for us, little changes: the pitch, training and rest. But yes, you do feel the Mørketid’. And speaking of feelings, his thoughts turn once again to Italy: ‘I miss everything. Even the pressure of “having to win at all costs”. It’s not easy to live with, but it helps you grow as a man. Italian football is still the best of all. I grew up as a Juventus fan. Coaching in Serie A? It’s a dream. But now I’m taking it step by step’. For now, his focus is entirely on Inter Milan, while in Norway, between the cold and Mørketid, life goes on, and he will face the rest of the future step by step.