Martin Christensen Braithwaite (; born 5 June 1991) 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, rugb ...

who plays for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

club

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

and the Denmark national team. He plays mainly as a forward, but he can also play as a winger. Having begun his career at Esbjerg fB, he went on to play for

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

, and Leganés and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

of La Liga. He also spent two years in England with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

. Braithwaite made his senior international debut for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in 2013 and has earned 60

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

. He was part of their squads at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

and

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

, reaching the semi-finals of the 2020 tournament.

Club career

Esbjerg fB

Braithwaite started out in the academy at Sædding-Guldager Idrætsforening (SGI), after which he joined the biggest club in his city, Esbjerg fB. He then spent a short time at

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Supe ...

's sports academy, before moving back to Esbjerg, signing a three-year youth contract in 2007. During his second stint at the Esbjerg academy, Braithwaite went on trials with both

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

. He eventually made his Esbjerg debut in 2009, making 63 Superliga appearances for the club and scoring 12 goals, including nine in the 2012–13 season during which he appeared in every league game for the club.Martin Braithwaite
Danskfodbold.com. Retrieved 15 August 2013. He won the Danish Cup with the club in 2012–13, scoring two goals in the semi-final second leg win over

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was pr ...

. Following his impressive displays for Esbjerg in the 2013 Superliga spring season and the

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 ...

he was called up to the Danish national squad in the summer of 2013. At the same time he was being rumoured to be attracting the interest of a number of European clubs including

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

Toulouse

On 14 August 2013, while away on national duty for a friendly international against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Danish

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

'' DR'' reported that Braithwaite had been sold to French club

for an estimated DKK 15 million (roughly €2 million). Braithwaite scored a career-best 11 league goals in both 2015–16 and 2016–17. His tally for the latter campaign included two goals in a 4–1 home win over rivals

in the '' Derby de la Garonne'' on 20 August 2016, and another two on 14 October in a 3–1 win over eventual champions

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, also at the

Stadium de Toulouse Stadium de Toulouse is the largest multi-purpose stadium in Toulouse, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches, mainly those of the Toulouse Football Club, as well as rugby matches for Stade Toulousain in the European Rugby C ...

Middlesbrough

On 13 July 2017, Braithwaite signed a four-year contract with

EFL 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 E ...

club

for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £9 million. Under the initial management of

Garry Monk Garry Alan Monk (born 6 March 1979) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a centre back, and was most recently the manager of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday. His managerial career includes spells at ...

, he became the club's third signing of the season, after

Jonny Howson Jonathan Mark Howson (born 21 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Middlesbrough in the Championship. Howson started his professional career at Leeds United, where he made 225 appearances following his d ...

and

Cyrus Christie Cyrus Sylvester Frederick Christie (born 30 September 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Hull City and the Republic of Ireland national team. Early and personal life Christie was born in Coventry, ...

. Braithwaite made his league debut for the club on 5 August 2017 at the

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889. The first stadium built for use by a Football League club, it was one of the first British groun ...

, where Middlesbrough were defeated 1–0 by

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' ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 30 September 2017, in a 2–2 draw against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings wh ...

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

. Braithwaite was loaned out to his former club Toulouse's rivals Bordeaux on 31 January 2018 for the rest of the season. He scored four goals during his time there, including two in a 4–2 home derby win over his previous employer on 12 May. He returned to Middlesbrough for the 2018–19 season, but quickly expressed his desire to leave the club and go to Spain to play instead. This was much to the dismay of ''Boro''

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

. After his unsuccessful attempt to leave the club in the 2018 summer transfer window, Braithwaite played the first half of the season for Middlesbrough, scoring three goals in 18 appearances.

Leganés

Braithwaite joined

side

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games a ...

at the beginning of the 2019 January transfer window on a loan deal until the end of season. He made his league debut for the club on 12 January, in a 1–0 victory against

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Guido Carrillo Guido Marcelo Carrillo (born 25 May 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Estudiantes. Club career Estudiantes Carrillo played for Estudiantes for most of his early professional career. He was a fa ...

for the last 26 minutes, and scored his first goal four days later in a 1–0

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

home win against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Braithwaite scored his first league goal in a 1–3 loss at

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

on 20 January 2019, and finished the campaign with four goals in 19 league appearances. On 24 July, he agreed to a permanent four-year deal with the ''Pepineros'' for a rumoured fee of €5 million, hence becoming the second most expensive player in the club's history.

Barcelona

On 20 February 2020, Barcelona triggered Braithwaite's release clause of €18 million and signed him on a four-and-a-half-year contract. His release clause was set to €300 million. Barcelona were granted an emergency exception to sign Braithwaite outside of a transfer window because of the long-term injury to

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. Dembélé began his career at Rennes before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He ...

. Two days after signing, Braithwaite made his debut in a home match against Eibar, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute. He assisted the fourth and fifth goals in the 5–0 win, both off deflections. On 13 June 2020, Braithwaite scored his first goal for Barcelona following an assist by

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

in a 4–0 victory against

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. On 24 November 2020, Braithwaite scored his first two Champions League goals in a 4–0 away win over Dynamo Kyiv, a match in which he also had an assist, in the 2020–21 season. On 2 December, he scored his third goal in the competition in the first half of the match against

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

. On 3 March 2021, he scored the winning goal in a 3–0 win over

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

after extra time to secure Barcelona's place in the 2021 Copa del Rey Final. On 15 August 2021, Braithwaite scored a brace and assisted teammate Sergi Roberto's goal in Barcelona's opening-day match of the 2021–22 season; a 4–2 home win against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

. The following month, he was ruled out for three to four months with a knee cartilage injury against

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and o ...

; fellow attackers Dembélé, Ansu Fati and

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...

were already injured, while Messi had left and

Antoine Griezmann Antoine Griezmann (; born 21 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the France national team. A versatile player, Griezmann is known for his attacking, passing, and supporti ...

was out on loan. On 1 September 2022, Braithwaite terminated his contract with Barcelona effective immediately.

Espanyol

On 1 September 2022, Braithwaite signed a three-year contract with

as a free agent. On 4 September, he scored a goal on his debut in a 1–0 away victory over Athletic Bilbao.

International career

Having already represented several Danish national youth teams, in the summer of 2012, Braithwaite was offered the chance to represent Guyana, being eligible through his Guyanese father. He declined the offer and went on to make his senior debut for the Danish national team in June 2013 in a friendly against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, starting the game and playing the first half. He remained in the squad for the 2014 World Cup qualification match against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. Braithwaite scored his first international goal in his second match in a friendly in August 2013 against

. In May 2018, he was named in Denmark’s final 23-man squad for the

in Russia. On 16 October that year, he scored in a 2–0 friendly win over Austria, ending a five-year goal drought. Braithwaite was part of the Danish squad that reached the semi-finals of

, held in 2021. He scored the last goal of their 4–0 last-16 win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Personal life

Braithwaite has a Guyanese father and his younger sister Mathilde (born 2002) plays football for KoldingQ and for Denmark's U-16 national women's football team. His father Keith's birth surname was ''Brathwaite'', the more common spelling in the Caribbean, but it was changed by US authorities to ''Braithwaite'' when Keith arrived in the country. When Braithwaite was 5 years old he was diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. Braithwaite is the nephew and business partner of the Danish-born, American-based, real estate developer Gareth Roger James Smith. They co-own real estate in the New York Market and are building a high-rise in Jersey City, New Jersey. Braithwaite is married to French entrepreneur, journalist and television personality Anne-Laure Louis Braithwaite. They have two sons together. He is also the stepfather of his wife's two children from a previous relationship.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Denmark's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Braithwaite goal.''

Honours

Esbjerg fB *

2012–13 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 ...

* Danish 1st Division: 2011–12 Barcelona *

: 2020–21

References

External links

*
Danish national team profile

Danish Superliga statistics
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Martin 1991 births Living people People from Esbjerg Danish footballers Association football wingers Association football forwards Esbjerg fB players Toulouse FC players Middlesbrough F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players CD Leganés players FC Barcelona players RCD Espanyol footballers Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Ligue 1 players English Football League players La Liga players Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Denmark international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Danish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Danish people of Guyanese descent Sportspeople of Guyanese descent Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark