Håvard Nordtveit (born 21 June 1990) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a defender[2] or defensive midfielder.

[12] Arsène Wenger travelled to Norway on 11 June 2007 to watch an Adeccoligaen match and begin negotiations to sign Nordtveit.

[16][17] Upon joining the club, Haugesund captain Kevin Nicol and former Norway coach Nils Johan Semb went on to praise him as the brightest defensive talent in Europe.

[18] Nordtveit made his Arsenal debut in their first pre-season friendly against Barnet on 14 July 2007, coming on after half-time, replacing Kerrea Gilbert, as they won 2–0.

[28] Nordtveit came off the bench to make his debut for UD Salamanca as they drew 1–1 with Sevilla Atlético in the second fixture of the season.

[48] Since making his debut for Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was used mostly as a defensive midfielder, and established himself as a key player for Gladbach, taking the departed Michael Bradley's place in the squad.

[51] He later played in both legs of the Relegation play-offs, as Borussia Mönchengladbach won 2–1 on aggregate and retained its Fußball-Bundesliga spot for the 2011–12 season.

[53] At the start of the 2011–12 season, Nordtveit continued to regain his first team place, playing in the defensive midfield position.

[56] Nordtveit started in the semi–finals of DFB-Pokal against Bayern Munich, where he missed the decisive penalty shot in the shoot–out that saw Borussia Mönchengladbach eliminated from the tournament.

[58] However, during a match against FC Augsburg on 28 April 2012, he suffered a shoulder injury, resulting in his substitution in the 40th minute and missed the rest of the 2011–12 season.

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Nordtveit recovered from a shoulder injury and continued to regain his first team place, playing in the defensive midfield position.

[65] After helping the club qualify for the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, he signed a contract extension with Borussia Mönchengladbach, keeping him until 2016.

[68] Despite being sidelined on two occasions, Nordtveit returned to the starting line–up and scored in the last game of the season, losing 4–3 against Bayern Munich.

[84] However, in the last game of the season against FC Augsburg, Nordtveit was sent–off in the 61st minute for a professional foul, as Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 3–1 and went on to finish third place, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

[91] Following the absence of Granit Xhaka, Nordtveit captained the side in the next three matches and even scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 5–1 win against Werder Bremen on 5 February 2016.

[98] Two weeks later on 15 August 2016, Reid made his Premier League debut, starting a match and playing 67 minutes before substituted, in a 2–1 loss against Chelsea in the opening game of the season.

[104] He then made three more appearances for the side for the last remaining matches of the season, returning to playing in the defensive midfield position.

On 20 June 2017, West Ham announced that Nordtveit had signed for German side TSG Hoffenheim, for an undisclosed fee.

[109] In the return leg against Liverpool, however, Nordtveit was unable to help the club make a comeback, as they lost 4–2, eliminating the side to the UEFA Europa League.

Following his return from a loan spell at Fulham, Nordtveit, however, found himself behind the pecking order at Hoffenheim's squad and was placed on the substitute bench.

[125] It wasn't until on 17 December 2019 when he returned to the first team, coming on as a 60th-minute substitute and set up the club's second goal of the game, in a 2–0 win against Union Berlin.

[128] Nordtveit made his Fulham debut, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 loss against former side West Ham United on 22 February 2019.

[139][140] After being called up to the U-21 team for the first time, Nordtveit made his debut, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win against Syria on 23 November 2008.

[142] After being left out of the senior team, Nordtveit was instead called up for the under-21 side where he played an important role in the 5–3 win against France U21 when Norway qualified for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

[147] Three months later on 6 September 2011, Nordtveit made his second appearance for the national side, starting the whole game in the defensive midfield position, in a 2–0 loss against Denmark.

[150] Nordtveit later became a regular in the senior squad, but in October 2012 he was suspended from playing the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Cyprus due to yellow cards.

[151] After serving a one match suspension, Nordtveit returned to the starting line–up against Hungary on 14 November 2012 and played 45 minutes, as Norway won 2–0.

[155] However, Nordtveit appeared as an unused substitute in both legs of the Play–Offs, as Norway lost 3–1 on aggregate against Hungary, eliminating the national side from the tournament.

[157] Throughout the 2018 World Cup qualifying stage, he helped the side keep three clean sheets in the last three matches of the campaign.

[165] Born and raised in the village of Vats in the district of Haugaland in the far west of Norway, Nordtveit said he grew up idolising Ole Gunnar Solskjær.