Karl Jesper Karlsson (born 25 July 1998) is a Swedish 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 ...

who plays as a forward for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club AZ and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early career

Karlsson started playing in IF Böljan from the age of four. At the age of 14, he received his first-team debut for the club in

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

. Before the 2015 season, he moved to

Falkenbergs FF Falkenbergs Fotbollsförening, also known simply as Falkenbergs FF, Falkenberg or (especially locally) FFF, is a Swedish football club based in Falkenberg. Formed on 3 January 1928, the club plays in the second highest Swedish league, Superet ...

, and he was offered a first-team contract in the autumn. In November 2015, Karlsson signed a first team contract that extends over the season 2018 with Falkenberg FF. Before he signed the contract, he had also served and trained with English

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Falkenbergs FF

The premiere of the headlines in 2016 were about Karlsson making his Allsvenskan debut. In the 79th minute he was replaced in instead of

Akseli Pelvas Akseli Pelvas (born 8 February 1989) is a retired Finnish footballer who played as a striker. Career Club Pelvas got started with football in the age of five, when he joined EsPa in Espoo. In 2003, he joined HJK’s juniors at the age of 14. ...

, in the match

lost 2–0 to

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

. On 17 July 2016, Karlsson scored his first two Allsvenskan goals in a 3–3 win against Hammarby IF. In total, he scored seven goals and made two assists during the 2016 season.

IF Elfsborg

Karlsson transferred from

to Swedish top flight

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

on 2 December 2016 for a fee of €450,000.

AZ

On 11 September 2020, Karlsson signed a five-year contract with Dutch

club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

. However, the teams agreed that he stayed at Elfsborg until 28 September. After arriving in Alkmaar, he made his debut on 4 October 2020 in a 4–4 draw against Sparta Rotterdam, in which he provided two assists.

International career

In September 2015, Karlsson made his debut in the Sweden national under-19. He has also represented the Sweden U21 team. He made his full international debut for Sweden on 9 January 2020 in a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...

against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Individual * Allsvenskan Striker of the Year:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

* Eredivisie Player of the Month:

December 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Team of the Month:

References

External links

*
Jesper Karlsson: whoscored.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Jesper 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Sweden youth international footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Falkenbergs FF players IF Elfsborg players AZ Alkmaar players Allsvenskan players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands People from Falkenberg Sportspeople from Halland County