Mads Albæk (born 14 January 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for German

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

club SC Weiche Flensburg 08. He has also represented the Danish national under-21 team.

Youth career

Born in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

, Albæk began his footballing career started in the small

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

ic club, Gadstrup IF. At the age of 11, he moved to play for

Herfølge Boldklub Herfølge Boldklub was a Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based in Herfølge, a southern suburb of Køge in the eastern part of Zealand. In 2009, the club shared its licence, and merged its professional football with Køge BK to form ...

. When playing for Herfølge's youth team, Albæk was on trial at

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

from the Netherlands, and later on, he was tested by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

from England. His talent was discovered by the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

, who brought Albæk through the ranks of their youth academy.

Club career

FC Midtjylland

Albæk signed his first professional contract in January 2008, and was permanently promoted in the first team squad. However, he continued playing games for the U19 squad, while training with the first team. In the summer 2008, Albæk suffered from a twist in the knee and that resulted in an operation. Due to the injury, he debuted in February 2009 in a match against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

where he played the whole match. Albæk extended his contract in March 2010 until the summer 2014. He played 28 league matches in this season despite his young age. Having established himself as a starter in the Midtjylland line-up, and he revealed in January 2013, that he would like to leave the club and take the step up. However, he wasn't sold in this transfer windows. Albæk was named as the player of the year 2012/13. With one year left of his contract, he left the club in the summer windows 2013.

Reims

Albæk had several interested club, but decided to join French side

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

in the summer of 2013. He got his debut for the club on 17 August 2013. Albæk played the whole match and scored a goal in the 7th minute, helping his team win 2–1 against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. However, besides his good first match, the rest of the season wasn't so good. He didn't fit in and did only score two goals in 27 league matches. Albæk suffered from a stomach injury October 2014, that resulted in an operation in December that held him out for some months. He went back from this injury in April 2015.

IFK Göteborg

In August 2015, Albæk signed a two-year contract with Swedish team

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

. He played his first match for the club only 5 days later against

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

. According to a Swedish media, IFK Göteborg rejected a bid from

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

-club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

for Albæk in January 2017.

Sønderjyske

On 20 June 2019, Albæk signed with

club

Sønderjyske SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

on a four-year deal. On July 20, 2020, he was part of the historic triumph when

won the 2020 Danish Cup final for the first time ever.

Randers

He left

in the beginning of Summer 2023, and joined Superliga club

Randers FC Randers FC () is a professional association football, football club based in Randers, East Jutland metropolitan area, East Jutland, that plays in the Danish Superliga, the top flight of the Danish football league system. Founded on 1 January 200 ...

on a one-year deal.

Weiche Flensburg

On 2 July 2024, Albæk joined German

club SC Weiche Flensburg 08.Weiche holt Albæk
weiche-liga.de, 2 July 2024, de

International career

Albæk has played for various national youth sides, and he was rewarded with the

Arla Arla may refer to: * ''Arla'' (moth), a genus of moth * Arkansas Library Association * Arla, Greece, a village * Ärla, a village in south-eastern Sweden * Arla Foods, a large Scandinavian producer of dairy products ** Arla (Finland), a subsid ...

U17 youth prize.

Honours

SønderjyskE *

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

: 2019–20

References

External links

*
Mads Albæk
official

statistics at danskfodbold.com * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albaek, Mads Winther 1990 births Living people Footballers from Roskilde Men's association football midfielders Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers FC Midtjylland players Stade de Reims players IFK Göteborg players Sønderjyske Fodbold players Randers FC players SC Weiche Flensburg 08 players Danish Superliga players Ligue 1 players Allsvenskan players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players 3. Liga players Danish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany 21st-century Danish sportsmen