Christian Lund Gytkjær (; born 6 May 1990) is a Danish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for club

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

Early life

Christian Gytkjær started his youth career playing for

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

, before moving on to

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

in 2005. In October 2007, he was invited for a trial at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in England with his brother, Frederik, ultimately nothing materialized from the visit. Gytkjær went on to be Lyngby's top scorer in 2007–08 for the under-18 side.

Club career

Lyngby Boldklub

Gytkjær was called up to the Lyngby first team in the middle of 2008, signing a new contract keeping him at the club until 2010. He scored three goals in eight appearances in his debut season in the 1st Division. By the 2009–10 campaign, Gytkjær had become one of Lyngby's most anticipated talents to come through their youth system. On 2 February 2010, it was confirmed Gytkjær would leave Lyngby when his contract expired in the summer to join

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

winners

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract, following in the footsteps of

Andreas Bjelland Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish-Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Lyngby. He represented Denmark at international level and was part of the Danes' Euro 2012 squad. He is also adept as a full back ...

, Andreas Laudrup and

Morten Nordstrand Morten Nordstrand Nielsen (; born 8 June 1983) is a Danish former professional association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He is currently the assistant coach of F.C. Copenhagen Reserves and Youth T ...

, who had left Lyngby for the

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

-based club. While his future had been set, Gytkjær was still to play out the remainder of the 2009–10 season with Lyngby, where he was targeted by the supporters who disapproved in seeing another player their team had nurtured head over to neighboring rivals. The backlash was only increased when the player was photographed with an FCN shirt while still under contract to Lyngby.

Nordsjælland

Christian Gytkjær made his debut for Nordsjælland in a 2–0 away defeat to Superliga champions

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 14 August 2010, when he was brought into the team to replace

Nicki Bille Nielsen Nicki Niels Bille Nielsen (born 7 February 1988) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He has played for various Danish national youth teams, including 17 games and 8 goals for the Denmark national under-21 foot ...

, who was sold to

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

Lech Poznań

On 28 June 2017, he signed a two-year contract with

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

side

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

, with the option for an extra 12 months. He made his debut for the club during the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round away game against

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norway, Norwegian association football, football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently ...

, which Lech lost 3–2. He scored his first (and second) goal for Lech in a 5–1 home win over

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

in the third round of the 2017–18 season. On 7 March 2019, he signed a contract extension, running until the end of the 2019–20 season. On 19 July 2020, during his last game for Lech, he scored twice in a 4–0 home win against

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

and led the team to secure second place in the 2019–20 season. He finished the campaign as top scorer with 24 goals. He also won Forward of the Season award. During the three years at Lech Poznań, he played in 119 games and scored 65 goals, which made him the best foreign goalscorer in club's history.

Monza

On 22 July 2020, Gytkjær joined newly promoted Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the option of a third. He made his debut on 3 October against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

, and scored his first goal on 31 October, converting a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

against

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

. He renewed his expiring contract in February 2022 for one year. With five goals in four

2021–22 Serie B The 2021–22 Serie B (known as the Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons) was the 90th season of the Serie B since its establishment in 1929. Changes The following teams have changed division since the 2020–21 season: To Serie B Relegated fr ...

promotion play-off games – including three goals in two final games against

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

– Gytkjær helped Monza gain promotion to the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

for the first time in their history, and was awarded the play-off MVP award. He made his Serie A debut on 13 August 2022, as a substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. On 18 September, Gytkjær came on as a substitute and scored in an upset 1–0 win against Italian giants

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

; it was Monza's first-ever Serie A win.

International career

Gytkjær was part of the Denmark under-17 team that won the 2006 Nordic Championship in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. He scored three goals in a 4–0 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the final.

Personal life

Gytkjær's younger brother, Frederik, also is a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Nordsjælland *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Rosenborg *

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

Denmark U17 * Nordic Championship: 2006 Individual * Tippeligaen top scorer:

* Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2019–20 *

Striker of the Year: 2016 *

Forward of the Season: 2019–20 *

play-offs MVP: 2021–22

References

External links

Rosenborg BK official profile
(archived 15 August 2016)
AC Monza official profile

Christian Gytkjær
at rbkmedia.no * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gytkjaer, Christian 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Roskilde Danish men's footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Lyngby Boldklub players FC Nordsjælland players Akademisk Boldklub players Sandnes Ulf players FK Haugesund players Rosenborg BK players TSV 1860 Munich players Lech Poznań players AC Monza players Venezia FC players Danish 1st Division players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players 2. Bundesliga players Ekstraklasa players Serie B players Serie A players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Danish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Footballers from Region Zealand