Albin Ekdal

Albin Ekdal (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈǎlːbɪn ˈêːkdɑːl]; born 28 July 1989) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A side Sampdoria.

Albin Ekdal
Ekdal playing for Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Albin Ekdal
Date of birth (1989-07-28) 28 July 1989
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sampdoria
Number 6
Youth career
2005–2006 IF Brommapojkarna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 IF Brommapojkarna 24 (0)
2008–2010 Juventus 3 (0)
2009–2010 → Siena (loan) 26 (1)
2010–2011 Bologna 22 (1)
2011–2015 Cagliari 114 (8)
2015–2018 Hamburger SV 54 (1)
2018– Sampdoria 76 (2)
National team‡
2004–2006 Sweden U17 18 (5)
2007–2008 Sweden U19 8 (2)
2008–2010 Sweden U21 12 (2)
2011– Sweden 55 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2020

Formed at IF Brommapojkarna, he spent most of his career in Italy, where he made over 200 appearances in Serie A. He mainly represented Cagliari, but also played for Juventus, Siena, Bologna and Sampdoria in the competition. He also spent three years in Germany's Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.

Ekdal made his senior international debut for Sweden in 2011. He earned over 50 caps for the nation, and represented them at UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Brommapojkarna

Albin Ekdal started his professional playing career with Brommapojkarna at the beginning of the 2007 Allsvenskan season. He played mainly as a central midfielder but also as an attacking midfielder or right midfielder.

Juventus

On 23 May 2008, Ekdal signed a four-year contract with Juventus of Italy's Serie A.[2] He made his Serie A and club debut on 18 October in a 2–1 away defeat to Napoli, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute for Christian Poulsen.[3]

Loan to Siena

On 15 July 2009, fellow Italian top-flight club Siena signed Ekdal on loan for a season.[4] He made 27 appearances for the Tuscans, who were ultimately relegated at the end of the season, and scored once, in a 4–3 loss away to eventual treble winners Inter Milan on 9 January 2010.[5]

Bologna

On 28 June 2010, Juventus sold 50% of their ownership rights of Ekdal to Bologna. As per the deal, the two clubs would agree at the start of each season who would have him as a player.[6] He played 23 total games for the Rossoblu and scored on the anniversary of his last goal, to open a 2–0 win at Bari.[7]

Cagliari
Ekdal with Cagliari in 2012

On 23 August 2011, Ekdal was sold to fellow Serie A team Cagliari on a three-year deal for €3 million.[8]

On 28 September 2014, Ekdal scored a hat-trick as Cagliari won 4–1 at Inter Milan.[9]

Hamburger SV

On 18 July 2015, German club Hamburger SV signed Ekdal from Cagliari on a four-year deal for €4.5 million with wages of €600,000 per season.[10] He was given the number 20 shirt.

He played 57 games for the side in total, who struggled against relegation in each of his three years with the team, ending with their ultimate descent into the 2. Bundesliga in 2018. He scored once for the team from Hamburg, the only goal of a home win against Hertha BSC on 5 March 2017.[11]

On 21 January 2017, Ekdal received the first red card of his career, after 33 minutes of a 1–0 loss at VfL Wolfsburg.[12]

Sampdoria

On 14 August 2018, following Hamburg's relegation from the Bundesliga, Ekdal returned to Serie A by signing for Sampdoria.[13]

International career
Ekdal (right) and Pierre Bengtsson playing against Spain in October 2019

Ekdal made his debut for Sweden on 10 August 2011 in a friendly game away to Ukraine in Kharkiv. He came on as a 60th-minute substitute for Sebastian Larsson in a 1–0 win.

Ekdal was named in Sweden's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 in France, despite a deep cut in his back from celebrating Hamburg's recent Bundesliga survival putting his involvement at risk.[14] He played each match as the Swedes came bottom of their group.

In June 2018 Ekdal was named in Sweden's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[15] He played all five games of a run to the quarter-finals.

Personal life

He is the son of Lennart Ekdal, an award-winning Swedish journalist, TV personality and newscaster known for his work for the newspaper Dagens Nyheter and the financial magazine Veckans Affärer, as well as hosting TV shows such as Kalla fakta, Halvtid för Reinfeldt, Kvällsöppet med Ekdal & Hakelius and Hetluft.[16][17]

Ekdal's younger brother, Hjalmar Ekdal, is also a professional footballer who plays for Swedish first tier club Djurgårdens IF.[18]

On 13 March 2020, Ekdal tested positive for COVID-19, amid its pandemic in Italy.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 16 December 2020[20]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Brommapojkarna 2007 Allsvenskan 150–––150
2008 Superettan 90–––90
Total 240000000240
Juventus 2008–09 Serie A 300000–30
Siena (loan) 2009–10 26110––271
Juventus 2010–11 000010–10
Total 3000100040
Bologna 2010–11 Serie A 22110––231
Cagliari 2011–12 30110––311
2012–13 31130––341
2013–14 22110––231
2014–15 33510––345
Total 11686000001219
Hamburger SV 2015–16 Bundesliga 14010––150
2016–17 21120––231
2017–18 19000––190
Total 541300000571
Sampdoria 2018–19 Serie A 32010––330
2019–20 32010––330
2020–21 12210––132
Total 762300000792
Career total 29913140100031413

International
As of match played 14 October 2020[20]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201110
201210
201350
201460
201570
201680
201740
2018100
201980
202040
Total540

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. Albin Ekdal signs 4-year contract with Juventus Archived 26 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Al San Paolo Amauri illude la Juve, ora per Ranieri si fa buio pesto". La Repubblica (in Italian). 18 October 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. Mancini, Riccardo (15 July 2009). "Ekdal in prestito al Siena" (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. "Search Results Web results Serie A: Inter 4-3 Siena". Inter Milan. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  6. "Albin Ekdal flyttar till Bologna". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 28 July 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  7. "Ekdal apre, Di Vaio chiude, Il Bari crolla: è tutto da rifare". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 9 January 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. "Accordo con la societa' Cagliari Calcio relativo al calciatore Albin Ekdal" (PDF) (in Italian). Juventus F.C. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. "Inter 1 Cagliari 4: Ekdal hat-trick inspires sensational away win". Four Four Two. 28 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  10. "Hamburg announce Albin Ekdal signing". Soccernews. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  11. "Ekdal gives Hamburg's survival hopes boost; Freiburg edge Eintracht". ESPN FC. PA Sport. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  12. Fredriksson, Emelie; Jönsson, Fredrik. "Albin Ekdal fick karriärens första röda kort". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  13. "Ekdal arrives from Hamburg on a permanent deal". U.C. Sampdoria. 16 August 2018.
  14. "Injury doubt Ekdal included in Sweden's Euro 2016 squad". Goal. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  15. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  16. "Lennart Ekdal prisad för sin journalistik – Kvällsöppet – tv4.se". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  17. "Sveriges Radio – Sidan finns ej". Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  18. ""Försämrar inte chansen att få hem Albin Ekdal"" (in Swedish). Expressen. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  19. "COVID-19: Sampdoria statement, 13 March 2020". U.C. Sampdoria. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  20. Albin Ekdal at Soccerway
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.