Albin Ekdal (; born 28 July 1989) 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

club Spezia and the Sweden national team. Formed at

IF 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 ...

, he has spent most of his career in Italy, where he has made over 200 Serie A appearances. He has represented

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...

, Juventus,

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, and

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

in the competition. He also spent three years in Germany's

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 footbal ...

with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of thr ...

. Ekdal made his senior international debut for Sweden in 2011, and has since then earned over 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 ...

for the nation. He has represented his country at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, 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 ...

, and

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 Euro ...

Club career

Brommapojkarna

Albin Ekdal started his professional playing career with Brommapojkarna at the beginning of the 2007 Allsvenskan season. He played mainly as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

but also as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Juventus

On 23 May 2008, Ekdal signed a four-year contract with Juventus of Italy's

. He made his Serie A and club debut on 18 October in a 2–1 away defeat to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute for

Christian Poulsen Christian Bjørnshøj Poulsen (born 28 February 1980) is a Danish former footballer. After starting his career with Holbæk, he played for a number of European clubs as a defensive midfielder, winning the Danish Superliga championship with ...

Loan to Siena

On 15 July 2009, fellow Italian top-flight club

signed Ekdal on loan for a season. He made 27 appearances for the Tuscans, who were ultimately relegated at the end of the season, and scored once, in a 4–3 loss away to eventual treble winners

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

on 9 January 2010.

Bologna

On 28 June 2010, Juventus sold 50% of their ownership rights of Ekdal to

. As per the deal, the two clubs would agree at the start of each season who would have him as a player. He played 23 total games for the ''Rossoblu'' and scored on the anniversary of his last goal, to open a 2–0 win at Bari.

Cagliari

On 23 August 2011, Ekdal was sold to fellow Serie A team

on a three-year deal for €3 million. On 28 September 2014, Ekdal scored a hat-trick as Cagliari won 4–1 at

Hamburger SV

On 18 July 2015, German club

signed Ekdal from Cagliari on a four-year deal for €4.5 million with wages of €600,000 per season. He was given the number 20 shirt. He played 57 games for the side in total, who struggled against relegation in each of his three years with the team, ending with their ultimate descent into the 2. Bundesliga in 2018. He scored once for the team from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, the only goal of a home win against

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

on 5 March 2017. On 21 January 2017, Ekdal received the first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...

of his career, after 33 minutes of a 1–0 loss at

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

Sampdoria

On 14 August 2018, following Hamburg's relegation from the Bundesliga, Ekdal returned to Serie A by signing for

Spezia

On 13 July 2022, Ekdal signed a two-year contract with Spezia.

International career

UEFA EURO qualifiers Sweden vs Spain 20191015 Albin Ekdal and Pierre Bengtsson

Ekdal made his debut for Sweden on 10 August 2011 in a friendly game away to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Sebastian Larsson Bengt Ulf Sebastian Larsson (; born 6 June 1985) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Beginning his career at hometown club IFK Eskilstuna, Larsson was signed by Arsenal. He made three Premier League appear ...

in a 1–0 win. Ekdal was named in Sweden's 23-man squad for

in France, despite a deep cut in his back from celebrating Hamburg's recent Bundesliga survival putting his involvement at risk. He played each match as the Swedes came bottom of their group. In June 2018 Ekdal was named in Sweden's 23-man squad for the

in Russia. He played all five games of a run to the quarter-finals. Ekdal was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for

Personal life

Ekdal grew up in Höglandet, an affluent suburb west of Stockholm. He is the son of

Lennart Ekdal Lennart Ekdal (born 19 November 1953) is a Swedish journalist and television presenter. Career Born in Linköping, Östergötland, he began his career in financial journalism in the 1980s and is best known for his work on several TV4 programs ...

, an award-winning Swedish journalist, TV personality and newscaster known for his work for the newspaper ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

'' and the financial magazine '' Veckans Affärer'', as well as hosting TV shows such as ''Kalla fakta'', ''Halvtid för Reinfeldt'' (with

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He ...

), ''Kvällsöppet med Ekdal & Hakelius'' and ''Hetluft''. Ekdal's younger brother,

Hjalmar Ekdal Hjalmar Ekdal (; born 21 October 1998) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Burnley and the Sweden national team. Beginning his professional career with IK Frej in 2018, Ekdal briefly represented Assyriska ...

, is also a professional footballer who plays for

Burnley FC Burnley Football Club () is an English association football club based in Burnley, Lancashire, that competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, following relegation from the 2021–22 Premier League. Founded on 1 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

Individual *

Swedish Midfielder of the Year Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association and televised by TV4. Merit categories Current categories Discontinued categorie ...

: 2013, 2014, 2015 *

Stor Grabb Ulises Infante Azocar, (born 8 April 1987) is a Swedish rapper best known under the artistname ''Stor''. Azocar grew up in Huddinge outside of Stockholm with his mother and siblings. His parents are Chilean who fled to Sweden in 1976. his father ...

: 2016

References

External links

* * *
archive
*
Goal.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekdal, Albin 1989 births Living people Association football midfielders Swedish footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Sweden international footballers Sweden youth international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers IF Brommapojkarna players Allsvenskan players Juventus F.C. players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Cagliari Calcio players Hamburger SV players U.C. Sampdoria players Spezia Calcio players Serie A players Bundesliga players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Footballers from Stockholm Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany