Mikkel Duelund

Mikkel Duelund

Personal information
Full name	Mikkel Duelund Poulsen [1]
Date of birth	(1997-06-29) 29 June 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Aarhus, Denmark
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	AGF
Number	20
Youth career
1999–200?	Virup IF
200?–200?	VRI
200?–2005	HEI
2005–2008	Skovbakken
2008–2011	AGF
2011–2014	Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2018	Midtjylland	90	(21)
2018–2024	Dynamo Kyiv	21	(1)
2021–2023	→ NEC (loan)	37	(3)
2023–2024	→ AGF (loan)	29	(3)
2024–	AGF	3	(0)
International career‡
2012	Denmark U16	1	(0)
2013–2014	Denmark U17	4	(1)
2014–2015	Denmark U18	3	(3)
2015–2016	Denmark U19	13	(10)
2016–2019	Denmark U21	24	(6)
2018	Denmark League XI	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 October 2017

Mikkel Duelund Poulsen (born 29 June 1997) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish Superliga club AGF.

Club career

Early career

Duelund was born in Aarhus and started playing football at the age of two in Virup IF. ^[3] From the time he was two years old, until he was eight years old, he played first for Vejlby-Risskov Idrætsklub (VRI) and then for Hjortshøj-Egaa Idrætsforening (HEI). ^[3] At the age of eight, he moved to IK Skovbakken, where he played for three years. ^[3]

At the age of 11, Duelund joined the AGF academy; the most renowned in the city. ^[3] He subsequently had offers from several other clubs, but at the age of 14 he chose to move to FC Midtjylland. ^[3]

Midtjylland

Duelund began his professional career with Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland. In 2013, he took part in a trial with Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven but ultimately remained with Midtjylland's youth team. ^[4] During his time with the U19 group, Duelund won the Top Goalscorer and Player of the Season awards as the side were crowned Danish champions. ^[5] In 2014, he was named by The Guardian as one of 40 best young talents in World Football. ^[6]

Following his form at youth level Duelund was promoted to the first-team, making his league debut in March 2015 against Hobro IK, coming on as a second-half substitute for Petter Andersson. By the end of his debut season he had helped the club to its first ever Superliga title. ^[7] As a result of his showings in 2015 Duelund won the DBU U19 talent of the year-award. ^[8]

In the year that followed he made a goalscoring debut in the Champions League against Lincoln Red Imps before later debuting in the Europa League against Napoli. ^[5] In 2016–17, he became the seventh youngest player ever to score 10 career league goals in the Superliga. ^[7]

In March 2018, Duelund made his 100th appearance for Midtjylland and marked the occasion with a goal in a 2–1 win over Silkeborg. ^[9] The club ultimately went on to reclaim the Superliga title, ending ahead of rivals Brøndby. ^[10]

Dynamo Kyiv

On 31 August 2018, Duelund signed a contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv. ^[11] He made his debut for the club on 16 September in a 1–1 away draw against Zorya Luhansk, coming on as a substitute in the 59th minute for Volodymyr Shepelyev. ^[12] In his third game, he scored his first goal for the club – the game-winner in a 1–0 away win over Arsenal Kyiv. ^{[13] [14]}

However, he would only play sporadically. Within two months of his move, he suffered an ankle fracture which meant that he barely made any appearances for over a year and a half. ^{[15] [16]} After recovering in February 2020, he mostly appeared as a substitute. During the 2020–21 season, Duelund made only four league appearances, of which one was in the starting lineup. ^[17] In November 2020, Duelund was one of multiple Dynamo players infected with SARS‑CoV‑2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[18]

NEC (loan)

On 22 June 2021, recently promoted Dutch Eredivisie club NEC Nijmegen announced that they had signed Duelund on a one-season loan from Dynamo Kyiv with an option to buy. ^{[19] [20]} He made his debut on 14 August in a 5–0 loss to defending champions Ajax. ^[21]

On 5 August 2022, the loan was extended by another season. ^[22] He started the 2022–23 season in convincing fashion, scoring once and adding two assists on the second matchday in a 4–1 victory against FC Volendam. ^[23]

On 29 January 2023 NEC confirmed, that Duelund's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement. ^[24]

AGF (loan)

Later on the same day which Duelund left NEC Nijmegen, Danish Superliga club AGF confirmed that Duelund had returned to the club, which he played for as a youth player, on a loan deal for the rest of the season. ^[25]

International career

In June 2017, Duelund was one of two 19-year-olds named in Denmark's squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland. ^[7] He featured twice at the tournament, including a start in a 3–0 loss to eventual champions Germany, before Denmark were eliminated during the group stages. ^[26] He got his debut for the Denmark League XI side in a friendly against Jordan on 15 January 2018, where he scored one goal in Denmark's 2–3 loss. ^[27]

Personal life

In February 2016, ahead of the Midtjylland's Europa League game against Manchester United, Duelund stated he was a lifelong fan of the Premier League club and named Wayne Rooney as his footballing idol. ^[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 March 2023 ^{[29] [1]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		Continental [b]		Other		Total
		League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Midtjylland	2014–15	Danish Superliga	7	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	2015–16	Danish Superliga	22	5	1	1	2	1	0	0	25	7
	2016–17	Danish Superliga	33	8	4	2	7	0	0	0	44	10
	2017–18	Danish Superliga	28	8	4	1	3	0	0	0	35	9
	2018–19	Danish Superliga	5	0	0	0	2	0	—		7	0
	Total		95	21	11	4	14	1	0	0	120	26
Dynamo Kyiv	2018–19	Ukrainian Premier League	9	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	13	1
	2019–20	Ukrainian Premier League	8	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
	2020–21	Ukrainian Premier League	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		21	1	2	2	3	0	0	0	26	3
NEC (loan)	2021–22	Eredivisie	22	2	3	1	—		—		25	3
	2022–23	Eredivisie	15	1	1	0	—		—		16	1
	Total		37	3	4	1	—		—		41	4
Aarhus GF (loan)	2022–23	Danish Superliga	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Career total			156	26	17	7	17	1	0	0	190	34

1. Includes Danish Cup, Ukrainian Cup and KNVB Cup
2. Includes both UEFA Champions League and Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Denmark	2018	1	1
Total		1	1

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Duelund goal.

List of international goals scored by Mikkel Duelund

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 January 2018	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Jordan	2–3	2–3	Friendly

Honours

Midtjylland

• Danish Superliga: 2014–15, 2017–18 ^{[7] [10]}

Dynamo Kyiv

• Ukrainian Premier League: 2020–21 ^[30]
• Ukrainian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21
• Ukrainian Super Cup: 2019, 2020 ^{[31] [32]}

References

1. "Mikkel Duelund". World Soccer. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
2. "Дуелунд | Українська Премʼєр-Ліга | Офіційний сайт УПЛ - upl.ua". upl.ua. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
3. Larsen, Michael Patrick (20 July 2015). "Fokus på: Mikkel Duelund – fra leg til Superliga". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
4. Møbjerg Sørensen, Simon (10 November 2013). "FCM-talent prøvetræner i PSV Eindhoven". Tipsbladet (in Danish). Retrieved 5 June 2016.
5. Grønning, Jeppe (24 April 2016). "Mikkel Duelund: Fra Tonsser til Champions League". Tipsbladet (in Danish). Retrieved 5 June 2016.
6. Blight, Gary (14 October 2014). "Next Generation 2014: 40 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
7. Bairner, Robin (30 March 2017). "Meet Mikkel Duelund: The teenage talent who snubbed the Premier League to develop in Denmark". Goal. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
8. DBU. "Årets Talenter (tidligere Årets Arla Talent)". DBU (in Danish). Retrieved 30 September 2021.
9. "Duelund jubler over jubilæumsmål: Det havde jeg ikke regnet med". Tips Bladet (in Danish). 5 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
10. Hoffskov, Ole (28 June 2018). "Mikkel Duelund: Superligaen trænger til profiler" (in Danish). Tipsbladet. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
11. "Mikkel DUELUND joins Dynamo!" (in Ukrainian). 31 August 2018.
12. "Zorya Lugansk - Dinamo Kiev 1:1 (Premyer Liga 2018/2019, 8. Round)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
13. "Duelund og 12 andre spillere misser Barcelona-kamp - TV 2". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). 3 November 2020.
14. "Arsenal Kiev - Dinamo Kiev 0:1 (Premyer Liga 2018/2019, 10. Round)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
15. "Mikkel DUELUND: "I need a surgery"". fcdynamo.kiev.ua. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
16. Stigsen, Rasmus (28 March 2020). "Mikkel Duelund om situationen i Kiev: 'Jeg står stærkere nu end før jeg blev skadet'". TV3 SPORT (in Danish).
17. "Mikkel Duelund » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
18. "A number of Dynamo players and employees tested positive for COVID-19". fcdynamo.kiev.ua. 1 November 2020.
19. "N.E.C. huurt Mikkel Duelund". N.E.C. (in Dutch). 22 June 2021.
20. Okstrøm, Oliver (25 June 2021). "Duelund havde dansk interesse: Derfor blev det NEC". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
21. "Ajax vs. NEC - 14 August 2021". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
22. "Mikkel Duelund komend seizoen N.E.C.'er". N.E.C. (in Dutch). 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
23. "N.E.C. boekt eerste driepunter in Volendam". N.E.C. (in Dutch). 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
24. N.E.C. en Duelund komen contractontbinding overeen, nec-nijmegen.nl, 29 January 2023
25. MIKKEL DUELUND VENDER HJEM TIL AARHUS, agf.dk, 29 January 2023
26. "Duelund lever fint med presset". Bold (in Danish). 20 June 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
27. "Jordan ordnede tandløse Danmark". 10 February 2023.
28. Morgan, Tony (17 February 2016). "Manchester United: Midtjylland starlet Mikkel Duelund eager to eliminate boyhood club from Europa League". International Business Times. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
29. "Mikkel Duelund Club matches". Socceway. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
30. "Favbet League (2020/21)". www.upl.ua. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
31. "Динамо - Шахтар | Рапорт арбітра | Українська Прем'єр-Ліга | Офіційний сайт УПЛ - upl.ua". upl.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
32. "Шахтар - Динамо | Рапорт арбітра | Українська Премʼєр-Ліга | Офіційний сайт УПЛ - upl.ua". upl.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 10 July 2021.

External links

• Mikkel Duelund at AGF (in Danish)
• Mikkel Duelund at Danish Superliga (in Danish)
• Mikkel Duelund at Soccerway