Udinese’s Thomas Kristensen: “My dream has always been to play in England” | OneFootball

Napoli’s title challenge was dented recently by a 1-1 draw at home against Udinese. The player from the away team who really made an impression in this one was defender Thomas Kristensen.

It was a mammoth performance from the Dane, who did extremely well against the star-studded attack featuring Romelu Lukaku, Matteo Politano and David Neres, registering one shot blocked, two tackles won and notching up two clearances, and completing 15 out of 21 passes as well as winning 3/4 ground duels. Kristensen was signed from five-time Danish champions Aarhus Gymnastikforening (AGF) by Udinese on the deadline day of the summer 2023 window for €5 million. “There were a lot of clubs that were interested in signing me, but Udinese wanted me really badly, and it was an opportunity that neither myself nor the club could say no to. It was a good match, and I’ve already played a lot of games at Udinese and shown a lot of good things in Serie A,” he said.

His first season at the club was a period of adjustment in a team that eventually barely survived in the top division.

“The main difference between Denmark and Italy is the quality of the players. You don’t have time to sleep. You don’t have time to make naive, stupid mistakes. You cannot give the strikers and the players here too much space. It’s a country that’s well-known for their defending, so it was a really good place for me to grow. I feel that after one and a half years in Italy, I’ve improved a lot defensively. It’s a great league with a lot of quality players, and the defensive aspect is especially very strong.”

This season under Kosta Runjaić has been a lot better and they currently sit 10th in the league. A lot of this has been because of Kristensen, who has played at centre back and right back when required. The 6″6, 23 year old is not only extremely imposing defensively and aerially, his passing numbers, over both long and short distances is among the best in the Udinese squad. “My relationship with Runjaić is good, I try to do what he asks of me. His style fits how I want to play, which is as an aggressive, wide center back who wants to apply the pressure and who’s not afraid to carry out a high line.”Unsurprisingly, he has garnered interest from big clubs like Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen and English clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. Wolves reportedly had a bid turned down this January, as it fell slightly short of Udinese’s valuation of the player. However, it won’t be surprising if he soon moves to the Premier League, given the fact that he has openly admitted that he wants to play there, as per Zach Lowy (via rg.org). “Ever since I was a little kid, my dream has always been to play in England. Then, when I got a little older, my dream was to come to Italy to become a defender. If you want to improve as a defender, Italy is the best place to do it. They teach defending in the best way. Right now, I’m here in Udine, and I have a lot to improve on, and Udinese is a great place to improve as a player. There’s no rush, but I still have a dream of playing in England one day”, the Dane said.

Kaulik Mitra | GIFN