Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

club

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 spe ...

. Hedlund joined

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 ...

at the age of 16 and debuted in the

in 2012. In 2016, he moved to

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

for a club record €850,000 before signing for

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 p ...

for €250,000 two and a half years later, in January 2019. In Denmark, he developed a strong partnership in attack with first top goalscorer

Kamil Wilczek Kamil Antoni Wilczek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 14 January 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays for Piast Gliwice and the Poland national team. He is usually deployed as a striker for both club and country. Wilczek played for ...

and since

Mikael Uhre Mikael Brandhof Uhre (; born 30 September 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. A youth product of SønderjyskE, Uhre enjoyed his breakthrough in the second tier for ...

and became noted for his pace and pressing abilities. He returned to Elfsborg in 2023, after seven years abroad. Hedlund has represented Sweden at different youth levels and made his under-21 debut in 2012. He was called up to the senior team in 2020, and scored his first goal for the national team in his second appearance.

Club career

Elfsborg

Born in Trollhättan,

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

, Hedlund joined the youth system of

when he was 16 years old, after having played for hometown clubs IFK Trollhättan and

FC Trollhättan FC Trollhättan is a Swedish football club located in Trollhättan currently playing in Division 1. Background The club was founded in 2001, when the old rivals Trollhättans IF and Trollhättans FK decided to merge. In their first league m ...

. There, he made his professional debut on 12 August 2012 in a 4–1

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

win over

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

, coming on as a late substitute for

Niklas Hult Bo Niklas Hult (born 13 February 1990) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left back for IF Elfsborg. Club career Nice In May 2014 Niklas Hult was signed by OGC Nice for a fee around €1 million, the French Ligue 1 club as they ...

. At the end of the season, Elfsborg won the Swedish league title. He was also a part of the Elfsborg team that won the Swedish Cup in 2014. On 31 July 2014, Hedlund made his first goal in European competition, scoring on a penalty kick in the 89th minute in a 4–1 win over Icelandic club FH in the third qualifying round of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. During his time in Elfsborg, Hedlund made 93 league appearances in which he scored 14 goals. He also scored nine goals in 20 appearances in the Swedish Cup and made 17 total appearances in the Champions League and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Union Berlin

On 29 August 2016, Hedlund signed a four-year contract with

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club,

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

. The transfer made him the most expensive purchase by the club at the time. Hedlund made his debut on 21 September, as a substitute in an away game against

Würzburger Kickers Würzburger Kickers is a German association football club playing in Würzburg, Bavaria. In pre-World War II football, the club competed briefly at the highest level in the Bezirksliga Bayern, and during the war, in the Gauliga Bayern. Post-war, ...

which Union won 1–0. He finished the 2016–17 season with 29 appearances in which he scored three goals. Hedlund missed just three league matches during the 2017–18 season as Union finished eighth in the league. However, the following season he saw less playing time, as Union would eventually push for promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

just months after he left the club. Hedlund departed the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in January 2019, after making 75 appearances and scoring 11 goals for the club.

Brøndby

On 11 January 2019, Hedlund moved to Denmark to join Superliga club

on a four-and-a-half year contract for a fee rumoured to be around €250,000. He was assigned shirt number 27 by the club. Hedlund scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 home draw against OB on 29 March. He made the final of the Danish Cup in his first six months in Brøndby, a match against FC Midtjylland which was eventually lost on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. Hedlund finished the 2018–19 season with four goals from 19 appearances. On 30 June 2020, Hedlund and teammate Samuel Mráz tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, ruling them out for at least a week. Before a match against FC Midtjylland on 24 October 2020, Hedlund was not selected for the matchday squad, giving rise to speculation to about the reasons. Brøndby head coach

Niels Frederiksen Niels Frederiksen (; born 5 November 1970) is a Danish professional football manager. He last worked as the head coach of Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. Frederiksen began his career as a head coach at Lyngby Boldklub in 2009 after having ...

explained that other players had impressed more during practice, and that the decision of not including Hedlund was "not a disciplinary punishment". He would, however, finish the season strong as a key part of the Brøndby offense alongside top goalscorer

and

Jesper Lindstrøm Jesper Grænge Lindstrøm (; born 29 February 2000), also known as Jobbe, is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Denmark national team. Lindstrøm made his full internationa ...

as the club won its first

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

in 16 years. Hedlund contributed with nine goals and nine assists in 33 appearances in the club's title-winning season, and was voted Superliga Player of the Month for May 2021 for his performances. On 3 March 2023, Hedlund extended his contract with Brøndby by two years until 2025.

Return to Elfsborg

On 20 August 2023, Hedlund returned to Elfsborg, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with ''Di Gule''. He made his return debut for the club on 3 September, replacing

André Boman André Peder Boman (born 15 November 2001) is a Swedish football midfielder who plays for IF Elfsborg. Career On 7 December 2022, Boman was included in Sweden's squad for their January tour of 2023 in Portugal, with matches scheduled against F ...

at half-time in a 1–0 league loss away against

IFK Värnamo IFK Värnamo is a Swedish football club located in Värnamo. The club plays in the Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. The most famous player from the club is Jonas Thern, who was captain of the Swedish national football team when the ...

. On 8 October, he scored his first return goal for Elfsborg, as well as providing an assist, strongly contributing to a 3–0 league victory against

Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

International career

Hedlund has represented Sweden as an international at various youth levels. On 9 January 2020, Hedlund made his debut for the Sweden national team in a

friendly 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, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, a match that ended in a 1–0 win for Sweden. In his second match, a 1–0 win over

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

on 12 January, Hedlund scored his first international goal, which secured the win for Sweden.

Style of play

Hedlund has been described as a player with an "aggressive and direct playing style", who can play in multiple offensive positions. Renowned for his pace with and without the ball at his feet, Hedlund has described himself as a "hard worker", and was praised for evolving into a true team-player during his time at Brøndby by head coach

Personal life

Hedlund is of Finnish descent through his Finnish mother. In June 2020, Hedlund married longtime girlfriend, Sandra Isabel, in Sweden.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Elfsborg *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

* Svenska Cupen: 2013–14 Brøndby *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual * Brøndby Player of the Month: February 2019, March 2019 * Superliga Player of the Month:

May 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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedlund, Simon 1993 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Allsvenskan players 2. Bundesliga players Danish Superliga players IF Elfsborg players 1. FC Union Berlin players Brøndby IF players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Swedish people of Finnish descent Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Sportspeople from Trollhättan Footballers from Västra Götaland County