Simon Kjaer

Simon Kjaer
Simon Kjær (2017)
Personnel
Surname	Simon Thorup Kjær
birthday	March 26, 1989
place of birth	Horsens ,  Denmark
size	191 cm
position	Central defender
Juniors
Years	station
	Lund IF
0000-2004	AC Horsens
2004-2006	FC Midtjylland
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2007-2008	FC Midtjylland	19 (0)
2008-2010	US Palermo	62 (5)
2010-2013	VfL Wolfsburg	57 (3)
2011–2012	→  AS Roma  (loan)	22 (0)
2013-2015	Lille OSC	66 (1)
2015-2017	Fenerbahçe Istanbul	55 (3)
2017–	Sevilla FC	14 (1)
2019-2020	→  Atalanta Bergamo  (loan)	5 (0)
2020–	AC Milan	14 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2006	Denmark U18	1 (0)
2006-2008	Denmark U19	10 (1)
2008	Denmark U20	1 (0)
2008-2009	Denmark U21	3 (0)
2009–	Denmark	95 (3)
1 Only league games are given. Status: end of season 2019/20 2 As of November 18, 2019

Simon Thorup Kjær (born March 26, 1989 in Horsens ) is a Danish football player . The defender is under contract with AC Milan . He is also a Danish national player .

Even in his youth, he was considered one of the greatest defensive talents in his country. In 2008 he was voted the best U19 player in Denmark. In 2009 he was named “Danish Talent of the Year”. He referred Nicklas Bendtner and Christian Eriksen to places two and three.

His father Jørn was also a professional player and played for Horsens fS and Herning Fremad , both forerunners of today's clubs AC Horsens and FC Midtjylland , during his playing career .

Club career

Career start

Kjær started his career in the youth of Lund IF. While still a child, he switched to the Jutland training association AC Horsens . There he developed into the club's most hopeful talent, which is why he moved to the FC Midtjylland youth academy in 2004 .

Even as a youth player in Midtjylland, football experts described him as one of the country's greatest talents. In the 2006/07 season he was accepted into the club's professional squad by coach Erik Rasmussen at the age of 17, but did not appear in the league for the entire season. Although Kjær had been given some opportunities, Midtjylland had become the surprise team of the season, which was long in the title fight and in the end became runner-up. Rasmussen largely trusted his well-rehearsed team and avoided the risk of integrating a youth player on the defensive. After the surprise success, the top performers were sold out, whereupon Rasmussen had to rebuild half the team. In the first half of the following season, on September 30, 2007, Kjær then celebrated his long-awaited league debut in a 2-0 home win against Aarhus GF . As a result, he formed together with Magnus Troest , Kolja Afriyie and Leon Jessen the youngest defensive line in the league, which became the team's great strength. The club presented itself even better despite the many departures and celebrated the runner-up title once again with the second best defense. Kjær had met the high expectations placed on him and had moved into the focus of various major international clubs.

He had already completed a trial training session at Real Madrid during the winter transfer period, but Midtjylland rejected the offer because the transfer fee was too low. In spring 2008, the club then agreed with the Italian Serie A club US Palermo on a transfer fee of around four million euros, which was rumored.

US Palermo

After Palermo got off to a weak start in the 2008/09 season , coach Stefano Colantuono was replaced by Davide Ballardini , who made Kjær's Serie A debut on October 30, 2008 during the 3-1 home defeat by Fiorentina from the 46th minute . Then Bellardini changed the defensive and made Kjær next to Cesare Bovo the regular central defender in the starting lineup. In his first season in Palermo, the Dane played 27 games with three goals and established himself as a regular in Serie A with strong performances at the age of 21.

In 2009/10 the club signed Dorin Goian, an already prominent player, for central defense, who subsequently hardly got a chance. Bovo and Kjær presented themselves as a well-rehearsed duo with a low susceptibility to errors throughout the season. Palermo narrowly missed qualifying for the Champions League with fifth place in the table , Kjær was one of the team's top performers. After several speculations about a transfer to a major European club like Manchester United or Real Madrid arose in the second half of the season, his employer offered him a new contract with the same term but better conditions, which he accepted.

VfL Wolfsburg

In July 2010, the German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg signed Kjær. He signed a four-year contract and should strengthen the defensive of Lower Saxony. Although the club unexpectedly found itself in the relegation battle, Kjær was a regular player in central defense throughout the season and completed 32 league games.

Loan to Rome

On August 31, 2011, VfL Wolfsburg awarded Kjær to AS Roma for the 2011/12 season . In addition, the Italians secured a purchase option. For AS Roma he played in Serie A and Coppa Italia a total of 24 times.

Return to Wolfsburg

Since AS Roma was too expensive to commit to Kjær, he returned to Wolfsburg for the 2012/13 season . There, coach and manager Felix Magath gave him permission and permission to leave the club. Since no new club was found, Kjær stayed with VfL. In the first eight game days he only got around 130 minutes of play. After Magath's dismissal, Kjær had been in central defense under the new coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner alongside Naldo since the ninth game day . He initially played under Dieter Hecking , but then couldn't prevail and ended up on the bench.

Lille OSC

In July 2013, the center-back was signed by Lille OSC . With his new employer, Kjær found his way from the start and was a regular in his first season at Lille. With his good defensive performance, he was able to build on his strength from the times in Palermo and was one of the decisive players, which is why Lille secured third place in the league and thus the Champions League qualification.

Fenerbahçe Istanbul

From the 2015/16 season, Kjær played for Fenerbahçe Istanbul . The transfer fee was 7.65 million euros. Kjær signed a four-year contract.

Sevilla FC

In August 2017, Kjær moved to Sevilla FC.

Atalanta Bergamo

In the summer of 2019, Kjær moved to Italy on loan to Atalanta Bergamo . The Dane only played five league games for the club and one in the Champions League , in which Atalanta reached the knockout phase as second in the group before the loan ended early in mid-January 2020.

AC Milan

Instead, Kjær was loaned to AC Milan within Serie A. The Rossoneri also secured a purchase option, which was drawn on July 15, 2020. Kjær receives a contract until June 2022.

National team

On September 5, 2006 Kjær made his international debut in a 3-2 home win in the friendly game of the Danish U19 national team.

A one-off interlude in the U18 team followed on September 19, before he was a permanent fixture in the U19 team until October 2007. In May 2008 he made his debut for the Danish U21s , before he was promoted to national team player in June 2008 after Martin Laursen's career ended due to injury . As a result, he formed Denmark's central defense together with Daniel Agger during the successful qualification for the 2010 World Cup .

After a knee injury sustained in a preparatory game for the 2010 World Cup against Senegal , his participation in the finals was uncertain for a long time. On May 28, 2010, however, he gave the all-clear and was subsequently appointed to the final squad for his country for the tournament. At the World Cup, where Kjær remained largely unremarkable, Denmark was eliminated after the group stage.

In May 2011, Kjær was nominated by U21 national coach Keld Bordinggaard for the provisional squad for the 2011 European Championship in his own country, but VfL Wolfsburg refused to allow Kjær to take part in the tournament.

The central defender has been leading his home country onto the field as team captain since summer 2016.

successes

As a player

• Talent Awards ( Danish U19 Player of the Year ): 2007
• Danish Talent of the Year: 2009

In the club

• Danish runner-up: 2008 (with FC Midtjylland)

Web links

Commons : Simon Kjær  - collection of images

• Simon Kjær in the database of weltfussball.de
• Player profile on the official AC Milan website
• Player profile on the official website of the Danish Football Association

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Schmeichel årets Arla-talent (Danish) dbu.dk, accessed on May 31, 2010
2. ↑ ^{a b} Aftenens vindere er… (Danish) dbu.dk, accessed on May 31, 2010
3. ↑ ^{a b} Simon Kjær årets talent (Danish) ekstrabladet.dk, accessed on May 31, 2010
4. ↑ Back to Grassroots Follow-up (English) ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. denmark.worldcupblog.org, accessed June 2, 2010 
5. ↑ Simon Kjaer stormer Fremd , www.fcm.dk of October 3, 2006
6. ↑ Real Madrid byder på Simon Kjær (Danish) bold.dk, accessed on June 2, 2010
7. ↑ FC Midtjylland afviser Real Madrid (Danish) bold.dk, accessed on June 2, 2010
8. ↑ Dichirazione di Zamperini (Italian) ilpalermocalcio.it, accessed on June 2, 2010
9. ↑ Manchester United eye £ 11m defender Kjaer (English) independent.co.uk, accessed June 2, 2010
10. ↑ Kjær dropper Beck - og forlænger (Danish) tipsbladet.dk, accessed on June 2, 2010
11. ↑ Wolfsburg gets World Cup participant Kjaer focus.de, accessed on July 8, 2010
12. ^ Four departures / Diego to Atletico Madrid
13. ↑ Kjær leaves VfL Wolfsburg for Lille at transfermarkt.de
14. ↑ Seville confirms: Kjaer comes to the medical check . ( transfermarkt.de [accessed on August 2, 2017]).
15. ↑ SIMON KJAER È UN GIOCATORE DELL'ATALANTA atalanta.it, accessed on September 7, 2019
16. ↑ OFFICIAL STATEMENT: SIMON KJÆR The Danish player has signed a contract until 30 June 2022 , acmilan.com, accessed on July 15, 2020 (English)
17. ↑ Simon Kjær meldes klar til VM (Danish) ekstrabladet.dk, accessed on June 2, 2010
18. ↑ The Final List: VM-troops på 23 spillere (Danish) dbu.dk, accessed on June 2, 2010