Nicklas Helenius

Nicklas Helenius Jensen (born 8 May 1991) is a Danish footballer who plays as a striker for the Danish club Silkeborg IF.

Nicklas Helenius
Helenius playing for AaB in 2011
Personal information
Full name Nicklas Helenius Jensen[1]
Date of birth (1991-05-08) 8 May 1991
Place of birth Svenstrup, Denmark
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Silkeborg IF
Number 19
Youth career
Svenstrup-Godthåb IF
2005–2010 AaB
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 AaB 95 (34)
2013–2015 Aston Villa 3 (0)
2014–2015 → AaB (loan) 32 (8)
2015–2017 AaB 13 (0)
2016 → SC Paderborn (loan) 14 (4)
2016–2017 → Silkeborg IF (loan) 29 (10)
2017–2019 OB 56 (15)
2019–2020 AGF 40 (3)
2021– Silkeborg IF 0 (0)
National team‡
2011 Denmark U20 2 (1)
2011–2013 Denmark U21 11 (4)
2012– Denmark 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:25, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:11, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Club career

Aalborg BK

Helenius joined the Aalborg BK youth squad at the age of 13 and received his first contract while in the U19 squad. In the 2009–2010 season, he became the top goalscorer of the Aalborg BK under-19 squad in the Danish under-19 league with 22 goals. This was enough for him to finish second on the overall goal scorer list, only beaten by Brent McGrath who scored 29 goals for Brøndby IF.[2]

After the 2009-10 season, he made his professional football debut for Aalborg BK on 16 May 2010 against HB Køge.[3] Helenius scored his first goal for Aalborg BK in the Danish Superliga on 10 September 2010 against AC Horsens and got his first breakthrough in the AaB lineup after scoring a total of four goals in four consecutive league games and one goal in the Danish Cup in October and November 2010.

Following the 2012–13 season, he was selected as player of the season in the Danish Superliga on the UEFA website.[4]

A popular chant amongst the AaB supporters was "vi elsker vold og kokain – og Nicklas Helenius", directly translated to "we love violence and cocaine – and Nicklas Helenius", as a sarcastic reference to the hooligan culture. The chant was based on the tune Eviva Espana.[5]

Aston Villa

On 18 June 2013, Helenius signed for Aston Villa on a three-year deal believed to be in the region of £1.2m.[6] He scored a header on his debut in Villa's first pre-season game of the season, against German team SV Rödinghausen. He followed this up with another headed goal against VfL Bochum on his second appearance for the club.[7] He made his Premier League debut on 24 August 2013 at Villa Park against Liverpool which ended in a 1–0 defeat. Helenius scored his first goal for the club on 4 January 2014 against Sheffield United in an FA Cup third round tie at Villa Park.[8] Helenius gained notoriety when he got his shorts pulled down by Jan Vertonghen in a game against Tottenham Hotspur, revealing his briefs.[9]

After only 3 league games for Aston Villa in the first half season, Helenius was expected to leave the club. Helenius failed to become a regular part of the match day squad and would often not even be included. With a lack of interest from suitable buyers he found himself seeing the season out in the sidelines, only making one appearance in the 2014 campaign in an FA Cup game against Sheffield United F.C where he also scored his only goal for Aston Villa. Helenius' agent revealed in May 2014, that Helenius wasn't a part of Aston Villa's future plans and therefore had to leave the club.[10] Helenius revealed that a reason behind his struggles were a bacterial infection and an addiction to sleeping pills.[11] Helenius had many clubs interested, like IFK Göteborg and AaB. Aston Villa also rejected a bid from IFK Göteborg.[12]

Loan to AaB

On 9 July 2014, Helenius returned to his previous club AaB on a season long loan deal.[13] He was very happy to be back and expected a turbulent season with a two-digit number of goals. He had a good season with 14 goals in 43 games and he was set to make the transfer permanent, as Aston Villa didn't want to keep him.[14]

Return to AaB

Helenius joined AaB on a permanent transfer in July 2015.[15] But in this season, opposite the last season, Helenius was the fourth choice and didn't get much time on the pitch. A situation, that Helenius wasn't happy with, and he announced, that he would like to go out on loan.

Loan to SC Paderborn 07

On February 1, 2016, it was confirmed, that Helenius will play for SC Paderborn on loan from AaB.[16] He played his first game for Paderborn on 5 February 2016 in a 1-0 loss against SV Sandhausen. Helenius got some playing time, and scored 4 league goals in 14 games.

Back to AaB

Helenius played the first three season games for AaB, one from start and two from the bench. However, he was sent out on loan once again. His contract would expire in the summer 2017 and Helenius announced, that he wouldn't be extending it.[17] So he would be leaving the club after he was back from loan.

Loan to Silkeborg IF

On 10 August 2016 it was confirmed, that Helenius was loaned out to Silkeborg IF for the whole season.[18] He played 29 league games and scored 10 goals in this season.

OB

Already on 30 January 2017 it was confirmed, that OB had signed Helenius from AaB, but first valid from when his contract expired with AaB in the summer of 2017.[19]

AGF

On 7 July 2019, Helenius joined AGF on a 3-year contract.[20]

Return to Silkeborg

On 14 December 2020 Silkeborg IF confirmed, that Helenius would return the club from 2021 on a 3,5-year contract.[21]

International career

Helenius got his first international call up in January 2010 for the Danish under-19, but had to leave it due to an ankle sprain.[22] One year later, he was called up to the Denmark U21 squad for a training camp in Dubai. He got his under-21 debut on 20 January 2011 in a training match against China. Helenius' goals at U-21 Level include the opening goal of the 3–0 victory over Northern Ireland in September 2011.[23]

On 15 August 2012 he made his debut for the Denmark national football team against Slovakia.

Career statistics
As of match played 7 July 2019[24]
Club Season League Danish Cup/FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aalborg BK 2009–10 Danish Superliga 1000000010
2010–11 Danish Superliga 295210000316
2011–12 Danish Superliga 32141100003315
2012–13 Danish Superliga 33162200003518
2014–15 Danish Superliga 32832001224712
2015–16 Danish Superliga 100200000120
2016–17 Danish Superliga 3000000030
Silkeborg IF 2016–17 Danish Superliga 29103200003212
OB Odense 2017–18 Danish Superliga 298310000329
2018–19 Danish Superliga 2775300003210
Total 2256821120012225882
Aston Villa 2013–14 Premier League 3011200061
Total 3011200061
SC Paderborn 07 2015–16 2. Bundesliga 144000000144
Total 144000000144
Career total 182561492012221067

References
  1. "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. U-19 Drenge Ligaen (2010) - Topscorerliste Dansk Boldspil-Union
  3. Helmin, Jesper. "AaB stiller med unge knægte" (in Danish). www.bold.dk. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  4. Bruun, Peter. "Season review: Denmark". UEFA. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  5. Ernst, Anders Junge (1 August 2013). "Villa-fansene er vilde med Helenius og AaB-sang". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  6. "Helenius relishing "big opportunity" after sealing Villa move". Aston Villa FC. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. "VfL Bochum 1–1 Villa report: Helenius on target again". avfc.co.uk. Aston Villa Football Club. 14 July 2013. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013.
  8. "Aston Villa 1-2 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. https://ihatelupica.blogspot.com/2013/09/soccer-star-gets-pantsed-but-still.html
  10. Agent: Villa dropper Helenius, bold.dk, 19 May 2014
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/25/aston-villa-nicklas-helenius-sleeping-pills-dying
  12. IFK fik Helenius-bud afvist af Villa, bold.dk, 3 July 2014
  13. Officielt: Helenius til AaB‚ bold.dk, 9 July 2014
  14. Agent: Villa vil af med Helenius, bold.dk, 2 May 2015
  15. Helenius makes temporary Aalborg return Goal.com, 9 July 2014
  16. "Nicklas Helenius kommt von Aalborg BK" [Nicklas Helenius comes from Aalborg BK] (in German). SC Paderborn 07. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  17. Helenius afskriver AaB-comeback, bold.dk, 8 November 2016
  18. Officielt: Silkeborg lejer Helenius, bold.dk, 10 August 2016
  19. Helenius skriver tre år med OB, bold.dk, 30 January 2017
  20. AGF HENTER ANGRIBER I OB, agf.dk, 7 July 2019
  21. SIF henter Helenius på 3,5 årig kontrakt, silkeborgif.com, 14 December 2020
  22. Helenius: AaB er førsteprioriteten
  23. Smyth, Steve. Double the pain Danes, The Sun, 7 September 2011
  24. "Nicklas Helenius". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
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