Kristoffer Olsson

Kristoffer Olsson

Olsson with Sweden in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Mats Kristoffer Olsson [1]
Date of birth	(1995-06-30) 30 June 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Norrköping, Sweden
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Midtjylland
Number	8
Youth career
0000–2005	IK Sleipner
2005–2011	IFK Norrköping
2011–2013	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Arsenal	0	(0)
2014	→ Midtjylland (loan)	6	(0)
2015–2017	Midtjylland	44	(2)
2017–2019	AIK	58	(7)
2019–2021	Krasnodar	59	(4)
2021–2023	Anderlecht	36	(0)
2022–2023	→ Midtjylland (loan)	23	(5)
2023–	Midtjylland	13	(0)
International career‡
2010–2012	Sweden U17	19	(3)
2012–2014	Sweden U19	15	(2)
2014–2017	Sweden U21	27	(6)
2017–	Sweden	47	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Sweden UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 2015 Czech Republic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 December 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:05, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Olsson against Romania in 2019

Mats Kristoffer Olsson (born 30 June 1995) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish club FC Midtjylland and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Norrköping in Sweden, Olsson started his career at IK Sleipner. When he was 13, Olsson was offered a trial at English club Chelsea, however he didn't attend and subsequently moved to IFK Norrköping. When he was 16, Olsson garnered interest by European clubs such as Juventus and Ajax, as well as domestically from IFK Göteborg. However, he signed for Arsenal in 2011 ^[2] for £200,000^{[ citation needed ]} after having spent two previous trial periods with Arsenal. ^[3] While on trial at Arsenal, he played for Arsenal's under-16s against Crystal Palace and was invited to take part in the Ferrolli Cup ^[4] and the Nike Cup ^[2] as a result of his performances. Olsson revealed that it was the drive of Arsenal Academy manager, Liam Brady, who persuaded Arsène Wenger to sign him, that persuaded Olsson himself to sign for Arsenal. ^[5]

Arsenal

Olsson featuring for Arsenal in 2012

Olsson first played for Arsenal during their 2013 pre-season tour of the Far East. He scored his first goal for Arsenal against the Indonesia national team at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta following a cross from Tomáš Rosický. ^[6] Olsson made his full competitive debut for Arsenal on 25 September 2013 as an 84th-minute substitute for Isaac Hayden in a League Cup game against West Bromwich Albion, in which he scored a penalty kick where Arsenal came out winners and proceeded to the next round. ^[7]

FC Midtjylland

On 2 September 2014, Arsenal announced that Olsson moved to FC Midtjylland in Denmark on loan until the end of 2014. ^[8] He made his debut for the club in a 3–2 home win against OB Odense, coming on for Pione Sisto in the 78th minute. ^[9] On 27 December 2014, the Danish club announced that a permanent deal had been agreed with Arsenal to make Olsson's loan move permanent, with the player himself signing a new three-and-a-half-year contract. ^[10]

AIK

On 31 January 2017, Olsson signed for Allsvenskan club AIK. ^[11]

Krasnodar

On 7 January 2019, it was announced that Olsson had signed a contract with FC Krasnodar of the Russian Premier League. ^{[12] [13]}

Anderlecht

On 21 July 2021, he signed a four-year contract with Belgian club Anderlecht. ^[14]

Return to FC Midtjylland

On 31 August 2022, Olsson returned to his former club FC Midtjylland on a season-long loan deal with a purchase option. ^[15] In July 2023, he completed a permanent move to the club. ^[16]

International career

Olsson has represented Sweden at various youth levels and his style of play has been compared to former Swedish Arsenal players such as Freddie Ljungberg and Sebastian Larsson. ^[2] In January 2015 he received his first call up to the senior Sweden squad for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Finland. However, in his first training session with the team he broke his leg. ^[17] Olsson was, in May 2017, called up to the Sweden's squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship to be held in Poland. ^[18]

On 20 November 2018, Olsson played his first competitive match for Sweden against Russia at Friends Arena in Stockholm, in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. Olsson started in the midfield and played almost the entire match.^{[ citation needed ]} It ended as a 2–0 victory for the home side, which earned Sweden promotion to League A in the next edition of the tournament, as well as a play-off spot for UEFA Euro 2020.

Personal life

In February 2024, Olsson collapsed in his home and was rushed to the Aarhus University Hospital and put on a ventilator. His club, Midtjylland, put out a statement, in which they stated that the illness was related to the brain. They also added that the condition was not related to self-harm or external factors. ^[19] On 7 March, Midtjylland put out a statement saying that after numerous scans and examinations, doctors diagnosed that the collapse was caused by several small blood clots in both sides of the brain caused by an extremely rare inflammatory condition in the cerebral arteries. On 14 April, the club announced that Olsson had made significant progress, regaining motor control and his ability to speak, while continuing his rehabilitation at Hammel Neurocenter. ^[20] On 26 May, he surprisingly came onto the pitch after Midtjylland's Superliga title win, and presented the trophy to the team. ^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 December 2023 ^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Arsenal	2013–14	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Midtjylland	2014–15	Danish Superliga	10	0	2	0	0	0	12	0
	2015–16	Danish Superliga	27	1	1	0	10 [b]	0	38	1
	2016–17	Danish Superliga	13	1	1	1	8 [c]	0	22	2
	Total		50	2	4	1	18	0	72	3
AIK	2017	Allsvenskan	29	2	3	0	6 [c]	0	38	2
	2018	Allsvenskan	29	5	5	1	4 [c]	1	38	7
	Total		58	7	8	1	10	1	76	9
Krasnodar	2018–19	Russian Premier League	6	0	1	0	4 [c]	0	11	0
	2019–20	Russian Premier League	27	1	0	0	7 [d]	0	34	1
	2020–21	Russian Premier League	26	3	1	0	8 [e]	0	35	3
	Total		59	4	2	0	19	0	80	4
Anderlecht	2021–22	Belgian Pro League	33	0	5	0	4 [f]	0	42	0
	2022–23	Belgian Pro League	3	0	0	0	3	0	6	0
	Total		36	0	5	0	7	0	48	0
Midtjylland (loan)	2022–23	Danish Superliga	24	5	1	0	7 [c]	0	32	5
Midtjylland	2023–24	Danish Superliga	13	0	1	0	6 [f]	0	20	0
	Total		37	5	2	0	13	0	52	5
Career total			240	18	22	2	67	1	329	21

1. Includes EFL Cup, Danish Cup, Svenska Cupen, Russian Cup, Belgian Cup
2. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played on 19 November 2023. ^[23]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2017	1	0
	2018	4	0
	2019	10	0
	2020	7	0
	2021	13	0
	2022	8	0
	2023	4	0
Total		47	0

Honours

Midtjylland

• Danish Superliga: 2014–15, 2023–24

AIK

• Allsvenskan: 2018

Sweden U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2015

References

1. "Barclays Premier League: notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). Premier League. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
2. "Young Guns: Kristoffer Olsson". Arsenal.com. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
3. "Next big thing at Arsenal? The youth international impressing in pre-season". talkSPORT. 30 June 1995. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
4. "Arsenal Complete Ferroli Cup Group Stages – Young Guns | Arsenal News".
5. 8, kl 15.24 (28 January 2013). "FREDAGSFOKUS: Svensken i Arsenal om Wilsheres beröm – och pingisbråket med PL-stjärnan – Engelska ligan" (in Swedish). fotbollskanalen.se. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
6. Marioni, Massimo (14 July 2013). "Olivier Giroud at the double as Arsenal smash seven past Indonesia Dream Team". Metro. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
7. "West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal – 25 September 2013". Soccerway. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
8. "Olsson joins FC Midtjylland on loan". Arsenal Football Club. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
9. "Hattrick-Sly sænkede OB i overtiden" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
10. "Lang kontrakt til svensk teenage-talent" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 27 December 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
11. "Kristoffer Olsson klar för AIK Fotboll" (in Swedish). AIK Fotboll. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
12. "Kristoffer Olsson lämnar AIK Fotboll" [Kristoffer Olsson leaves AIK Football] (in Swedish). AIK. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
13. ""КРАСНОДАР" ДОСТИГ ДОГОВОРЕННОСТИ О ТРАНСФЕРЕ КРИСТОФФЕРА ОЛССОНА" [Krasnodar reaches agreement on the transfer of Kristoffer Olsson] (in Russian). FC Krasnodar. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
14. "SWEDISH MIDFIELDER KRISTOFFER OLSSON JOINS RSC ANDERLECHT". Anderlecht. 21 July 2021.
15. "FC MIDTJYLLAND HENTER KRISTOFFER OLSSON". fcm.dk. 31 August 2022.
16. "Kristoffer Olsson makes permanent switch to FC Midtjylland". R.S.C. Anderlecht. 3 July 2023.
17. "Sweden's Olsson breaks leg in training". uk.reuters.com. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
18. "Truppen till U21-EM uttagen" (in Swedish). Svenskfotboll. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
19. "Meddelelse om Kristoffer Olsson" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 27 February 2024.
20. "Kristoffer Olsson gør store fremskridt". FC Midtjylland (in Danish). 14 April 2024. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
21. Damm, Thomas (26 May 2024). "Guldcomeback til Olsson: Kristian Bach Bak var chauffør". Herning Folkeblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
22. "K. Olsson". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
23. "Landslagsdatabasen - Kristoffer Olsson". Svenskfotboll.

External links

• Kristoffer Olsson at FC Midtjylland (in Danish)
• Kristoffer Olsson at Danish Superliga (in Danish)
• Kristoffer Olsson at Soccerbase
• Kristoffer Olsson at WorldFootball.net