Denni Avdić

Denni Robin Avdić (born Deni Avdić; 5 September 1988) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward. Beginning his professional career with IF Elfsborg, he has gone on to play professionally in Germany for Werder Bremen and in the Netherlands for PEC Zwolle, AZ Alkmaar, and Heracles Almelo before returning to Sweden in 2016. He was a part of the AIK team that won the 2018 Allsvenskan.

Denni Avdić
Avdić training with AIK in May 2016
Personal information
Full name Denni Robin Avdić
Date of birth (1988-09-05) 5 September 1988
Place of birth Huskvarna, Sweden
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Husqvarna FF
Brøndby
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Elfsborg 104 (26)
2011–2013 Werder Bremen 7 (0)
2011–2012 Werder Bremen II 12 (0)
2012–2013 → PEC Zwolle (loan) 23 (8)
2013–2015 AZ 13 (0)
2014–2015 → Heracles Almelo (loan) 22 (4)
2016–2018 AIK 55 (5)
2019 Eskilstuna 16 (1)
National team
2003–2004 Sweden U17 15 (8)
2005–2007 Sweden U19 18 (4)
2007–2010 Sweden U21 24 (7)
2009 Sweden 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:17, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

He has won one cap for the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early career

Avdić was born in Huskvarna, Sweden. He was 15 years old he was signed by Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. He played for Brøndby's reserve team in the Danish 2nd Division East – the third tier of Danish football – but did not play any senior games for the club.[1] In 2006, Avdić was released by Brøndby, as he wanted to live closer to his family in Sweden.[2]

IF Elfsborg

He was picked up by IF Elfsborg in the Swedish Allsvenskan championship. When he was signed by Elfsborg, he was praised by Elfsborg officials as one of the greatest talents in Swedish football.[3]

Avdić made his debut for Elfsborg in November 2006. He played from the start in Elfsborg's first ever Royal League match, and scored two goals in the 4–0 win over AIK. In the 2010 season of the Allsvenskan, Avdić changed position from attacking-midfielder to striker, his previous position as a youth player. He scored 19 goals, making him runner-up golden boot that season, after Alexander Gerndt who scored 20 goals. Due to this he was sold the same season for a transfer fee of £2 million to Werder Bremen.[4]

Werder Bremen

On 3 January 2011, Avdić became Werder Bremen's first new signing of the winter, as confirmed by the website of the German Bundesliga club. He signed a contract until summer 2014. He featured only on rare occasions for the team during the 2011–12 Bundesliga season. due to his repeating injuries. Before his loan to PEC Zwolle, Avdić played seven games in Bundesliga and 12 games for Werder's second team without scoring a single goal.[5]

Loan to PEC Zwolle

On 29 August 2012, Avdić agreed to a loan to the Dutch football team PEC Zwolle in Eredivisie until the end of season 2013.[6] And he scored his first goal for the club in his fourth game as a substitute. On 17 February 2013, in his 14th game against Feyenoord, Avdić made the match-winning 3–2 goal for Zwolle, which also meant his seventh goal at the time. This made him at the time the second best Swedish goalscorer in the 2012–13 season, only beaten by Zlatan Ibrahimović.[7] Where experts claimed that he deserved a place in the Swedish national football team, due to Sweden's weak availability of good strikers.[8]

AZ Alkmaar

In summer 2013, Avdić joined AZ Alkmaar.[9] He made his debut on 30 October in a KNVB Cup match against Achilles '29, scoring two goals. AZ won the match with 7–0.

Loan to Heracles Almelo

On 15 August 2014, as a result of having no prospect with AZ, he was sent on loan to Heracles Almelo until the end of the season.[10]

Return to Sweden

He signed with AIK in 2016, and was a part of the AIK team that won the 2018 Allsvenskan.[11]

In February 2019, joined AFC Eskilstuna, newly promoted to Allsvenskan.[12] He left the club at the end of the year.[13]

International career

Avdić scored a total of 19 goals in 57 games for the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams, and was a part of the Sweden U21 squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on home soil.[14]

He made his full international debut for Sweden on 28 January 2009 in a friendly game against Mexico, coming on as a substitute for Daniel Nannskog in the 66th minute.[14][15]

Career statistics
As of 28 February 2019[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
IF Elfsborg Allsvenskan 2007 1900060250
2008 2540010264
2009 2932062375
2010 291921413521
Total 102264117312330
Werder Bremen Bundesliga 2010–11 700041111
Werder Bremen II 3. Liga 2010–11 10—10
2011–12 110110
Total 120—120
PEC Zwolle Eredivisie 2012–13 23840—238
AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie 2013–14 1302240192
Heracles Almelo Eredivisie 2014–15 22420—244
AIK Allsvenskan 2016 1523151234
2017 2134140294
2018 1901030230
Total 55582121758
Career total 2344320537529153

Honours

Club

IF Elfsborg[17]

AIK

Individual

References
  1. "Denni Avdic – Statistik" (in Danish). Brøndby IF. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  2. "Avdic vender hjem". Brøndby IF. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  3. "Denni Avdic klar för Blackburn Rovers – kommer från Bröndy och är en utpräglad målskytt" (in Swedish). Elfsborg IF. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007.
  4. "Denni Avdic Elfsborg" (in Swedish). expressen.se. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013.
  5. "Denni Avdic klar för Werder Bremen idag" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  6. "Denni Avdic lånas ut" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  7. Lundh, Olof (17 February 2013). "Avdic målbäst efter Zlatan: "Kan bara göra mitt jobb"" (in Swedish). fotbollskanalen.se. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. "Avdic fortsatt stekhet – sänkte Feyenoord" (in Swedish). fotbolldirekt.se. 17 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  9. "Zurück in die Niederlande: Avdic wechselt zu Alkmaar" [Back to the Netherlands: Avdic joins Alkmaar] (in German). Werder Bremen. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  10. "AZ slijt overbodige en verbannen Zweed aan Heracles: "Een uitstekende speler"" (in Dutch). Voetbalprimeur. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  11. "Avdic efter tunga åren i AIK: "Guldet gör att det har varit värt det"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  12. Fagerlund, Frida (28 February 2019). "Officiellt: Denni Avdic klar för AFC Eskilstuna". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  13. Klart: Denni Avdic och flera spelare lämnar AFC, fotbollskanalen.se, 26 November 2019
  14. "Denni Avdic - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  15. "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  16. "D. AVDIĆ". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  17. "D. Avdić". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  18. "Allsvenska skytteligan: Gerndt i ensam ledning". fotbollskanalen.se (in Swedish). 31 October 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
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