Middlesbrough once signed wonderkid for £3.8m - he was retired by 29 | OneFootball

Viktor Fischer was seen as one of the next big stars out of the Ajax academy, but persistent injuries ruined his career

Middlesbrough are aiming to return to the Premier League under Kim Hellberg this season in what is their 10th consecutive campaign at Championship level.

And if Boro do go one step further than their play-off final defeat last year, they'll be hoping that their stay in the Premier League lasts a little longer than it did back in 2016, when the Teesiders suffered immediate relegation back to the second tier.

It's paramount that newly-promoted clubs get the summer transfer window right in the modern day, with the amount of money being thrown around in the top flight, but while the money wasn't as prevalent a decade ago, those looking to establish themselves and avoid relegation still needed a near-perfect summer of business.

Ahead of their most recent Premier League campaign, Boro thought they'd hit the jackpot with Danish wonderkid Viktor Fischer from Ajax, but he'd be unable to properly get going due to injuries, which would prematurely force him to retire.

Why Viktor Fischer was so highly rated before his move to Middlesbrough

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Fischer became Aitor Karanka's first Premier League signing of the summer in 2016, joining from Dutch giants Ajax for just £3.8 million, which was seen as a steal at the time.

The then-21-year-old Dane had an electric youth scoring record for the Danish international team. He scored 20 goals in 30 games at under-17 level, including a couple in the 2011 U17 Euros, which Denmark reached the semi-finals of.

After that tournament, the likes of Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Inter Milan were sniffing around his services, but he decided to stay at Ajax, progressing through their youth system to play over 100 senior games for the club.

In his final year before the move to the Riverside, Fischer netted 11 and assisted four in all competitions for the Dutch giants, including two goals in Europa League outings against Celtic and Molde.

He was often a bench option for Ajax in league action, but at 21, you could see the potential he had, and why Middlesbrough were so keen to bring him to the club immediately ahead of their Premier League return.

Viktor Fischer's terrible campaign at Middlesbrough

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Middlesbrough came back down to the Championship in the 2016/17 campaign. Unfortunately, Fischer didn't acclimatise to the Premier League at all, and didn't do much to warrant praise in what was a difficult year.

The wideman was an unused substitute in Boro's opening two league games, and in his first league start, was hooked before the hour mark in a 2-1 loss against Crystal Palace. He'd go on to make just five more top-flight starts all year.

He missed the majority of matchday squads in 2017, as he battled a knee injury, but didn't come off the bench when he was featured, before playing half an hour in a 2-1 loss in the penultimate game against Southampton.

That would end up being his final game for the club, as he departed for German outfit Mainz in the summer of 2017, stating at the time that the Bundesliga side could provide him with the tools to "enjoy his football again."

Viktor Fischer's injury issues at FC Copenhagen

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Mainz very much did not turn out to be the club to resurrect his career, as Fischer ended up leaving Germany just six months into his time there, returning to Denmark to sign for FC Copenhagen in January 2018.

There's little doubt that, back in his home country, Fischer found his form again, but unfortunately, he struggled to stay fit for long periods.

After seven goals and eight assists in just 13 games to start the 2018/19 term, an ankle injury ruled him out for over four months. The following year, he missed the entire Championship round.

The 2020/21 term wasn't that unkind in terms of forced absences, but Fischer wasn't performing to the level he had been a couple of years ago, and was sold to Belgian side Royal Antwerp, where, ultimately, his career fully started to derail.

Viktor Fischer was forced to retire at age 29 due to persistent injuries

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Fischer played an important role for Royal Antwerp in the first half of the 2021/22 season. He started five of their six Europa League games, and 13 of his 18 league appearances were from the off, too.

Unfortunately, ankle surgery around the new year saw him miss the rest of the campaign, and he was never able to recover.

He struggled to play consecutive games for the Belgian side the following year, and after being loaned out to Swedish outfit AIK in February to try and work his way back to full fitness, it ultimately became too much, and he'd be forced to retire just months later, aged 29.

It was a terrible end to a good career, which saw Fischer win a couple of league titles and provide plenty of goal contributions for Copenhagen, especially.