Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Mathias Jensen [1] | ||
Date of birth | 1 January 1996 | ||
Place of birth | Jerslev, Zealand, Denmark [2] | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Brentford | ||
Number | 8 | ||
Youth career | |||
2001–2007 | Hvidebæk IF | ||
2007–2011 | Kalundborg GB | ||
2011–2015 | Nordsjælland | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2018 | Nordsjælland | 63 | (15) |
2018–2019 | Celta Vigo | 6 | (0) |
2019– | Brentford | 188 | (11) |
International career‡ | |||
2014 | Denmark U18 | 1 | (0) |
2014–2015 | Denmark U19 | 8 | (0) |
2015–2017 | Denmark U20 | 6 | (1) |
2017–2019 | Denmark U21 | 15 | (2) |
2020– | Denmark | 30 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:50, 27 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:26, 30 June 2024 (UTC) |
Mathias Jensen (born 1 January 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Brentford and the Denmark national team.
Jensen is a product of the Nordsjælland academy and began his senior career with the club in 2016. Following two seasons as a regular member of the team, he transferred to Celta Vigo in 2018. After an injury-hit 2018–19 season, he transferred to Brentford and was a part of the squad which was promoted to the Premier League in 2021. A former Denmark youth international, Jensen made his full international debut in 2020. He was a member of the Denmark squads at Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.
A midfielder, Jensen progressed through the academy at Nordsjælland and signed a three-year professional contract in January 2015. [4] [5] He was promoted into the first team squad for the 2015–16 season and made five appearances during the campaign, scoring one goal, which came in a 2–2 draw with Randers on 1 May 2016. [1] Jensen was a regular in the 2016–17 season, making 22 appearances, [6] before 2017–18 proved to be his breakthrough season. [1] He made 36 appearances, scored 12 goals, was awarded the captaincy and his achievements were recognised by the DBU and his club, [7] with the DBU 2017 Talent of the Year and FC Nordsjælland Player of the Year awards respectively. [8] [9] After three early 2018–19-season appearances, Jensen departed Nordsjælland in August 2018. [10] During just over three seasons as a professional at Farum Park, Jensen made 66 appearances and scored 15 goals. [1]
On 8 August 2018, Jensen moved to Spain joining La Liga club Celta Vigo on a five-year contract. [10] During an injury-affected 2018–19 season, he made just six appearances and left the club in July 2019. [11] [12]
On 10 July 2019, Jensen moved to England signing with Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract, with the option of an additional year, for an undisclosed fee, [12] reported to be £3.5 million. [13] He made 43 appearances and scored one goal during the 2019–20 season, [14] which ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off final. [15] Jensen made a career high 53 appearances during the 2020–21 season and celebrated promotion to the Premier League with victory in the 2021 Championship play-off final. [16] [17]
As a result of suffering a "badly gashed" foot while away on international duty, Jensen missed Brentford's entire 2021–22 pre-season and the first three matches of the regular season. [18] [19] Restricted to a mix of starting and substitute roles, [20] [21] particularly after the January 2022 signing of Christian Eriksen, [22] Jensen made 35 appearances during a "stop-start" season. [19] [23] Despite being affected by COVID-19 and another minor injury, Jensen won praise from head coach Thomas Frank for training "like an animal" while sidelined. [22]
Entering the final year of his contract, Jensen hired his own personal trainer to work with him daily during the off-season in Denmark and he returned for the 2022–23 pre-season "in incredible shape". [22] [24] He was challenged by head coach Thomas Frank to be the replacement for the departed Christian Eriksen. [22] Jensen began the regular season in a starting role and as a regular set piece taker. [1] [24] Coaching from specialist throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark helped length his throws. [24] Jensen's performance and first Premier League goal in a 4–0 win over Manchester United on 13 August 2022 was recognised with the man of the match award. [25] [26]
On 18 January 2022, Jensen signed a new 3+1⁄2-year contract, with the option of a further year. [23] Head coach Thomas Frank commended Jensen's "pressing abilities", "his defensive mindset" and stated that "he has been one of our best players so far this season". [23] In the process of winning his 23rd cap for Denmark in a Euro 2024 qualifier versus Finland on 23 March 2023, Jensen became Brentford's most-capped international player. [27] Until missing the final match of the season, [28] Jensen had been an ever-present starter in league matches and had improved his goal tally to five. [1]
Awarded the vice-captaincy and a starter when fit, [1] [29] [30] [31] Jensen made 36 appearances and scored four goals during a lower mid-table 2023–24 season. [32] [33]
Jensen made 30 appearances and scored 3 goals for Denmark between U18 and U21 level. [34] He was a part of Denmark's squads at the 2017 and 2019 European U21 Championships and captained the team in the latter tournament. [12] [34] Jensen was named in the senior team's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup, [35] but he was not included in the final squad. [12] In October 2020, Jensen won a late call-up to the full Denmark squad for a series of three matches, as a replacement for injured Brentford teammate Christian Nørgaard. [36] He made his full international debut with a start in a 4–0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands on 7 October and scored his first full international goal on his fifth cap, in a 8–0 2022 World Cup qualifying win over Moldova on 28 March 2021. [34]
Jensen was named in the Denmark squad for Euro 2020 and he appeared as a substitute in each of the six matches during the Danes' run to the semi-final. [37] [38] Jensen was named in Denmark's 2022 World Cup squad and made two appearances prior to the team's group stage exit. [34] [39] Jensen was named in Denmark's Euro 2024 squad, [40] but was an unused substitute in each match prior to the team's round-of-16 exit. [1] [41]
Jensen has been described as a "player who can dictate the game", "has a great passing ability" and "a great football brain". [12] Midway through the 2022–23 season, he remarked that while he has "always been a technical player who doesn't really enjoy the big tackles", he had developed his "aggression" and "adapted to the tempo of the Premier League". [23]
Club | Season | League | National cup [lower-alpha 1] | League cup [lower-alpha 2] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Nordsjælland | 2015–16 [1] | Danish Superliga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 5 | 1 | |||
2016–17 [6] | Danish Superliga | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 23 | 2 | ||||
2017–18 [1] | Danish Superliga | 35 | 12 | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 36 | 12 | ||||
2018–19 [1] | Danish Superliga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 1 [lower-alpha 3] | 0 | ― | 2 | 0 | |||
Total | 63 | 15 | 3 | 0 | ― | 1 | 0 | ― | 67 | 15 | ||||
Celta Vigo | 2018–19 [11] | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 6 | 0 | |||
Brentford | 2019–20 [14] | Championship | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 3 [lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 43 | 1 | |
2020–21 [16] | Championship | 45 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ― | 3 [lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 53 | 2 | ||
2021–22 [19] | Premier League | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ― | ― | 35 | 0 | |||
2022–23 [25] | Premier League | 37 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | 39 | 5 | |||
2023–24 [32] | Premier League | 32 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | ― | 36 | 4 | |||
2024–25 [43] | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | 5 | 0 | |||
Total | 188 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ― | 6 | 0 | 211 | 12 | |||
Career total | 257 | 26 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 284 | 27 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Denmark | 2020 | 4 | 0 |
2021 | 11 | 1 | |
2022 | 7 | 0 | |
2023 | 6 | 0 | |
2024 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 30 | 1 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 28 March 2021 | MCH Arena, Herning, Denmark | Moldova | 5–0 | 8–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [34] |
Brentford
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