Anton Gaaei (born 19 November 2002) 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, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

Club career

Viborg FF

Anton Gaaei started his career in Bruunshåb/Tapdrup IF and then passed by Overlund GF, before he moved to Viborg.Gaaei belønnes med kontrakt
vff.dk, 6 December 2020 From the summer 2020, Gaaei began training regular with the first team. On 2 September 2020, Gaaei got his official debut for Viborg, as he came on from the bench in the 76th minute against FC Fredericia in the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

. Three months later, in December 2020, Gaaei signed a new deal with Viborg until June 2023. In his youth, Gaaei was primarily a winger, but was later converted to right-back. On 1 April 2022, Gaaei got his league debut for Viborg and

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

debut in a game an against

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

. Gaaei ended the 2021–22 season with six league appearances. He became a regular starter in the 2022–23 season, making 37 appearances across all competitions.

Ajax

On 17 August 2023, Gaaei officially joined

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

for a reported fee of DKr35 million (about

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

4.5 million), signing a five-year contract with the Dutch club. In the process, he broke the transfer record as Viborg's highest-grossing sale. Gaaei made his competitive debut for the club on 3 September 2023, replacing Devyne Rensch in the 62nd minute of a 0–0 away league draw against

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

. He faced criticism for his early performances, with analysts highlighting defensive frailties. In

De Klassieker De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between AFC Ajax, Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History The ri ...

against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

on 24 September, Gaaei started but made two errors leading to goals and was substituted after only 32 minutes. On 25 February 2024, in a match against AZ, Gaaei was again substituted in the first half. Despite these difficulties, he scored his first goal for the club with a volley against Go Ahead Eagles in April 2024, which won the club's Goal of the Month award. He finished his debut season with 34 first-team appearances across all competitions, while also featuring 8 times for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. Gaaei began the 2024–25 season positively by scoring the decisive penalty in the record-breaking 34-penalty shootout against Panathinaikos in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round on 15 August 2024. Under new manager Francesco Farioli, Gaaei established himself as a regular part of the first-team squad, competing for the starting right-back position and making frequent appearances. He scored his first two Eredivisie goals for Ajax during the season, netting twice by mid-March 2025. He also provided a key assist during

against Feyenoord on 2 February 2025, contributing to Ajax's 2–1 victory.

International career

Gaaei represented Denmark at the under-20 level, earning two caps in 2022. He made his debut for the Denmark U21 team in November 2022. He subsequently became a regular for the U21 side, participating in friendly matches and the qualification campaign for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. As of March 2025, he had earned 14 caps for the under-21 team.

Personal life

Anton Gaaei is the son of former

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

player, Carsten Gaaei, who later also coached at several clubs.Carsten har altid været sælger og sportsmand: Han blev kendt, da han spillede på Viborg FF's førstehold, hvor sønnen Anton i dag spiller
viborg-folkeblad.dk, 17 June 2023

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaaei, Anton 2002 births Living people Danish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football fullbacks Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Viborg FF players AFC Ajax players Danish Superliga players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 21st-century Danish sportsmen