Mikkel Rufus Mutahi Bischoff (born 3 February 1982) is a Danish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

pundit and former professional player who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Having started his senior career with AB in 2001, he joined

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

a year later. For Manchester City, he only made two appearances in four years and was loaned out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. After leaving Manchester City, he spent half a season at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

before returning to Denmark with Brøndby where he remained for a few years. He ended his career with

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 2011. He also played four games for the Denmark under-21 national team.

Career

Born in

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 ...

, Bischoff made his senior debut with Danish club

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on F ...

, where he made just eleven Danish league appearances. On 15 May 2002, he moved abroad to join English club

for a fee of £750,000. He was the fourth Dane to sign for Manchester City in less than a year, with

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Niclas Jensen Niclas Christian Monberg Jensen (born 17 August 1974) is a Danish former professional football player and current football agent. He played as a left-back, and most notably won three Danish Superliga championships with F.C. Copenhagen. He playe ...

and

Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard (né ''Kevin Stuhr Larsen'', born 23 May 1983) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has played for Manchester City and Blackpool in England, as well as German club Hertha BSC and Dut ...

at City already. Signing Bischoff was part of a move to strengthen the team's prospects for the future, and he made his debut for the Danish under-21 national team upon his arrival at City. After making his one and only league appearance for City against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in September 2002, he underwent a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

operation, and was unable to make an impression for the club. He was under the knife again in the summer of 2003 after picking up a foot injury playing for the Denmark under-21 side. Things did not get much better for Bischoff during the 2003–04 season. He returned for just one game – making an appearance in the starting lineup for the second-leg

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

win over

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

club

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

in August. Bischoff returned to the reserves. At the end of September 2004, Bischoff joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a month-long loan deal, in order to gain some valuable first team experience. After impressing in seven appearances and a goal against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, he remained at Molineux as he signed a season-long loan deal with the club on the last day of the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

. Bischoff returned to Manchester City at the end of the season, but after another half-year as a substitute, he signed a loan deal with

in March 2006 and made his "Owls" debut against

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

the following day. In spite of suffering a small injury, Bischoff played his part in helping Wednesday avoid relegation from the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

. At the end of the season, he was released by Manchester City, along with nine teammates, following the expiration of his contract. He went on to sign for

several weeks later, in June 2006. After three games in seven months, Bischoff moved back to Denmark on a free transfer in the January 2007 transfer window, in order to play for Brøndby IF. He played regularly during his first couple of seasons at the club, before retiring at age 30 on 10 August 2012.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Danish national team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoff, Mikkel 1982 births Living people Danish people of Kenyan descent Association football central defenders Danish men's footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Manchester City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Brøndby IF players Danish Superliga players Premier League players English Football League players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from Copenhagen