Jacob Vandsø Ryfeldt Rasmussen (born 28 May 1997) 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

centre-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

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

club Red Bull Salzburg.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

, Rasmussen began his youth career at age five for

Næsby Boldklub Næsby Boldklub is a Danish Association football, football club currently playing in the Danish 3rd Division, the fourth tier of Danish football. They play at Næsby Stadium, ALPI Arena Næsby in Odense Municipality#Neighbourhoods and settlements ...

before moving to the youth academy of

Superliga Superliga (''super league'') may refer to: Sports Superliga can refer to different sports leagues: Association football *Albanian Superliga, the Albanian top-flight men's division * Argentine Superliga, the Argentine top-flight men's division *D ...

club

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

(OB) in 2013. He signed with the

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

academy in September 2014.

FC St. Pauli II

After spending two seasons in the academy he signed for

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

in June 2016. He became part of the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, competing in

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

. On 31 July he made his debut for the side, starting in the 3–1 win over 1. FC Germania Egestorf/Langreder. In the return game against Egestorf/Langreder on 26 November, he scored his first goal for the team and thereby contributed to the 3–3 away draw. He was part of the first-team squad twice, but only sat on the bench for matches against

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...

and

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

Rosenborg

On 6 January 2017, Rasmussen signed for

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

club Rosenborg. He made his debut 29 March 2017 starting against Brann in the

2017 Mesterfinalen The 2017 Mesterfinalen was the first edition of Mesterfinalen and the 3rd Norwegian super cup overall. Mesterfinalen is an annual game between the League champions and the Cup champions, or the League number two if, as with the 2017 final, the ...

. On 5 April he made his debut in Eliteserien, starting in the 3–0 victory at

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

Empoli

On 5 July 2018, Empoli announced that they had signed Rasmussen on a four-year contract. He made his debut on 12 August in the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

tie against

Cittadella Cittadella () is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around . There are fo ...

, which was lost 3–0. Seven days later he also made his debut in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, in the 2–0 win over

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Fiorentina

On 31 January 2019, Rasmussen joined

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. He was sent directly to his former club Empoli on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.

Erzgebirge Aue (loan)

On 12 January 2020, he joined 2. Bundesliga club

Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

on loan for the rest of the 2019–20 season. He made his debut on 31 January in a 0–0 draw against league leaders

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

Vitesse (loan)

On 21 July 2020, Rasmussen was loaned to Dutch

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 ...

club Vitesse for the 2020–21 season, with the option of extending the loan for another season. During the season, Vitesse reached the final of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

, but lost 2–1 to

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 ...

. Rasmussen was sent off in the cup final. A month later, the option in his loan deal was triggered, and his deal was extended by another season. On 4 November 2021, Rasmussen scored a goal and an own goal in the span of four minutes in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, coached by

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

in his debut as manager of the club. The match ended in a 3–2 loss for the Dutch side.

Feyenoord (loan)

On 30 July 2022, Rasmussen returned to the Netherlands and joined

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 a season-long loan with an option to buy. He made his competitive debut for the club on the first matchday of the 2022–23 season, starting at centre-back against his former club Vitesse in a 5–2 victory. On 27 August, he scored his first goal for the club, slotting home the third goal in the club's 4–0 win over

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch professional football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1925, the club ...

Brøndby

On 14 July 2023, it was announced that Fiorentina and Brøndby had reached an agreement for the transfer of Rasmussen for an undisclosed fee, reported to be €3 million. He signed a four-year contract, and was assigned the number 4 shirt. He made his debut for the club on 6 August, starting in a 3–1 league loss to

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand (), refers to the northeastern part of the Danish island of Zealand. The Danish tourist authorities have recently introduced the term Danish Riviera to cover the area in view of its increasing importance for to ...

. On 3 September, he scored his first goal for Brøndby, easily tapping the ball in from close range to kickstart a 3–1 victory over

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Kevin Mensah Kevin Niclas Mensah (; born 10 May 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a full-back. Mensah began his senior career with Viborg, later joining Esbjerg fB before moving to Brøndby in 2017. Originally a forward, he transitio ...

's replacement as

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

Red Bull Salzburg

On 9 June 2025, Rasmussen joined

club Red Bull Salzburg from Brøndby, signing a two-year contract. Upon signing, he stated that he was "hungry for success and titles" and aimed to "deliver from day one." He was assigned the number 2 shirt.

Career statistics

Honours

Rosenborg *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Mesterfinalen Mesterfinalen (), also known as UNICEF Mesterfinalen due to its cooperation with UNICEF, is a Norwegian association football competition contested between the champions of the previous Eliteserien season and the holders of the Norwegian Football ...

Feyenoord *

2022–23 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 ...

Individual *

Team of the Month: September 2023, October 2023

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Jacob 1997 births Living people Footballers from Odense Danish men's footballers Næsby Boldklub players Odense Boldklub players FC Schalke 04 players FC St. Pauli players FC St. Pauli II players Rosenborg BK players Empoli FC players ACF Fiorentina players FC Erzgebirge Aue players SBV Vitesse players Feyenoord players Brøndby IF players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Regionalliga players Eliteserien players Serie A players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players Danish Superliga players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Danish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football central defenders 21st-century Danish sportsmen