Joachim Andersen (footballer)

Joachim Christian Andersen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɑnɐsn̩]; born 31 May 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Fulham, on loan from Lyon, and the Denmark national team.

Joachim Andersen
Andersen with Lyon in 2019
Personal information
Full name Joachim Christian Andersen[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-31) 31 May 1996
Place of birth Solrød Strand, Denmark
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Fulham
(on loan from Lyon)
Number 5
Youth career
2000–2009 Greve Fodbold
2009–2011 Copenhagen
2011–2013 Midtjylland
2013–2014 Twente
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 Jong Twente 40 (0)
2013–2017 Twente 49 (4)
2017–2019 Sampdoria 39 (0)
2019– Lyon 18 (1)
2020– → Fulham (loan) 12 (0)
National team
2012 Denmark U16 1 (0)
2013 Denmark U17 2 (0)
2014–2015 Denmark U19 13 (0)
2017 Denmark U20 2 (0)
2015–2018 Denmark U21 14 (0)
2019– Denmark 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:46, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

He represented Denmark at U16, U17, U19, U20, and U21 levels before he was called up to the senior team for matches against Kosovo and Switzerland in March 2019. On 15 October 2019, he earned his first national team cap when Denmark beat Luxembourg 4–0.

Club career

Youth

Andersen started playing football at the age of 4 for local club Greve Fodbold, where he played from 2000 until 2009. He then joined Copenhagen’s academy, School of Excellence, before leaving for Midtjylland[3] when he was 15. At Midtjylland he moved into the talent academy in Ikast[4] where players like Simon Kjær, Winston Reid, Erik Sviatchenko, Viktor Fischer and Pione Sisto had stayed before him.

In April 2013, before he had made his first team debut with Midtjylland, Twente sent out scouts to observe Andersen, and offered him a one-week trial, which he accepted.[5] Four months later, he signed a youth contract with FC Twente for a fee rumored to be around 5 million Danish kroner (€650,000).[6][7] The plan was to start in the youth team in order to acclimatise, and progress to the senior sides after about 6 months.

Twente

Though he was still an under-19 player he was promoted to the senior team and on 8 November 2013, Andersen made his first appearance for Jong Twente playing the whole match.[8] He did not play any matches for the first team in his first season, but already in his second year at the club he was promoted to train with the first team squad with players like Dušan Tadić, Hakim Ziyech, Jesús Manuel Corona, Quincy Promes, Andreas Bjelland, Kasper Kusk and Kamohelo Mokotjo.

On 7 March 2015, he finally got his chance in the first team debuting against Willem II, and playing the last 20 minutes.[9] A week later, he signed a new contract with Twente until 2018.[10] In 2015, Andersen won the prize for U19 talent of the year by the Danish Football Association.[11]

On 22 March, he was named in the starting eleven against Groningen and scored his first goal for the first team. He slowly got more and more time on the pitch for the first team. He continued his development and became almost a regular part of the first team squad in the 2015–16 season.

Sampdoria

On 26 August 2017, Andersen signed a contract with Serie A club Sampdoria.[12] He had offers from other clubs in different leagues but chose Sampdoria to develop in Serie A.

Andersen made his debut on 25 February 2018, in a match against Udinese. He played seven more matches that season and from the beginning of the 2018–2019 season he became a regular starter attracting attention from bigger clubs. In his second season he only missed one game due to a ban. Sampdoria offered him a new contract until summer 2022 which he signed on 8 November 2018[13][14]

Olympique Lyonnais

On 12 July 2019, Andersen signed a five-year contract with French side Olympique Lyonnais.[15] The transfer fee amounted to 30 million euros (24 + 6 million in bonuses), meaning Andersen became Lyon’s record transfer. It was also a record high transfer fee for a Danish football player.

On 2 October, he made his debut in the Champions League against RB Leipzig, and on 11 November he scored his first Champions League goal in the 3–1 win against Benfica.

Fulham (loan)

On 5 October 2020, Andersen joined Premier League club Fulham on a season-long loan.[16]

Style of play

Andersen is considered a great ball playing defender[17] with the ability to play in both right and left side of the central defense and even in defensive midfield. In the 2018–2019 season, Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozović was the only player in Serie A with more accurate long passes than Andersen.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 20 January 2021[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Twente 2014–15 Eredivisie 7110——81
2015–16 18100——181
2016–17 22200——222
2017–18 2000——20
Total 49410——504
Sampdoria 2017–18 Serie A 7010——80
2018–19 32020——340
Total 39030——420
Lyon 2019–20 Ligue 1 1818061—322
Fulham (loan) 2020–21 Premier League 1200000—120
Career total 117512061001366

References
  1. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. "201718 Joachim Andersen - U.C. Sampdoria". U.C. Sampdoria. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. Grevedreng klar til prof-karriere‚ sn.dk, 23 August 2013
  4. "Joachim Andersens bumpede succesvej: Stjålne colaer og skideballe hos Steinlein". Tipsbladet.dk. 9 November 2018.
  5. FCM-talent: Tempo på i Twente, bold.dk, 15 April 2013
  6. FCM bekræfter talentsalg, bold.dk, 7 August 2013
  7. Avis: FCM får fem mio. kr. for talent‚ bold.dk, 8 August 2013
  8. TWENTE II VS. TELSTAR 3 - 0‚ soccerway.com, 8 November 2013
  9. Ung Twente-dansker fik debut i remis, bold.dk, 7 March 2015.
  10. Twente-dansker forlænger til 2018, bold.dk, 16 March 2015
  11. Talentpriser til Yussuf P. og Joachim A.‚ bold.dk, 17 March 2015
  12. Officielt: Joachim A. på plads i Sampdoria‚ bold.dk, 25 August 2017
  13. "Officielt: Dansk forsvarstalent forlænger med Serie A-klub". www.bt.dk. 8 November 2018.
  14. "Officielt: Joachim A. belønnes med ny kontrakt". bold.dk. 8 November 2018.
  15. "OL reinforce defense with Joachim Andersen". www.OL.fr. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  16. "Joachim Andersen Joins On Loan". Fulham Football Club. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  17. "Hareide fremhæver mulig debutant: Verdens bedste sted at blive forsvarsspiller - TV 2". sport.tv2.dk. 19 March 2019.
  18. Young-Myles, Oliver (2019-06-07). "How Sampdoria duo can solve two of Unai Emery's biggest problems at Arsenal". Metro. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  19. "Joachim Andersen". Retrieved 14 January 2019.
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