Oliver Christensen

Oliver Christensen (born 22 March 1999) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian Serie A club Fiorentina and the Denmark national team.

Oliver Christensen
Christensen in 2022
Personal information
Full name Oliver Christensen[1]
Date of birth (1999-03-22) 22 March 1999
Place of birth Kerteminde, Denmark
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Fiorentina
Number 53
Youth career
0000–2010 Kerteminde Boldklub
2010–2018 OB
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2021 OB 61 (0)
2021–2022 Hertha BSC II 5 (0)
2021–2023 Hertha BSC 35 (0)
2023– Fiorentina 2 (0)
International career‡
2017 Denmark U18 2 (0)
2017–2018 Denmark U19 2 (0)
2019 Denmark U20 1 (0)
2019–2021 Denmark U21 14 (0)
2020– Denmark 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 May 2021

Club career

OB

Born in Kerteminde on the island of Funen, Christensen played in the youth department of his local club, Kerteminde Boldklub, before moving to Odense Boldklub (OB) at under-12 level. There, he progressed through the academy, and completed a trial with Manchester United in October 2016.[3]

In May 2017, Christensen signed a three-year professional contract with OB, and was promoted to the first team. Thus, he became a part of the club until 2020.[4] In the first year of his contract, he still attended classes, after which he would become a full-time professional from the summer of 2018.[4]

He made his professional debut on 22 October 2018 in a Danish Superliga match against Brøndby IF.[5] He impressed during the match, fending off a number of shots on goal from opposing players.[6] He since became established as the starting goalkeeper for OB, gaining the nickname Gribben fra Kerteminde, meaning "the vulture from Kerteminde" due to his large wingspan.[7][8]

Hertha BSC

On 26 August 2021, Christensen was sold to Bundesliga club Hertha BSC, where he signed a deal until June 2026.[9] On 5 November, he made his debut for the reserve team Hertha BSC II in the Regionalliga Nordost game against 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.[10] During the 2021–22 season he did not make any Bundesliga appearance, as Alexander Schwolow and Marcel Lotka were given preference. Hertha finished the season in 16th place in the table and would thus meet Hamburger SV in playoffs for relegation and promotion. Since Lotka and Schwolow were injured, Christensen played both games and was able to keep Hertha in the Bundesliga.[11]

Fiorentina

On 10 August 2023, Christensen moved to Fiorentina in Italy.[12]

International career

Christensen played two games each for the Denmark under-18 team in 2017 and for the under-19 team in 2017 and 2018, respectively. After gaining a cap for the under-20 side in 2019, Christensen made his debut for the under-21 team on 10 September 2019 in a 2–1 victory in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Romania in Aalborg.[13]

On 9 November 2020, Christensen was called up to Kasper Hjulmand's senior squad for the friendly against Sweden due to several cancellations from, among others, the Danish national team players playing in England, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, as well as a case of COVID-19 in the squad, which had put several national team players in quarantine. He started the match against Sweden at Brøndby Stadium in his debut match, on 11 November 2020.[14][15]

Career statistics
As of match played 3 September 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
OB 2018–19 Danish Superliga 1020——30
2019–20 Danish Superliga 29000—5[lower-alpha 1]0150
2020–21 Danish Superliga 25030——280
2021–22 Danish Superliga 6000——60
Total 610500050710
Hertha BSC II 2021–22 Regionalliga Nordost 50———50
Hertha BSC 2021–22 Bundesliga 0000—2[lower-alpha 2]020
2022–23 Bundesliga 33010——340
2023–24 2. Bundesliga 2000——20
Total 350100020380
Fiorentina 2023–24 Serie A 2000——20
Career total 10306000701160
  1. Appearances in the Danish Superliga European play-offs
  2. Appearances in Bundesliga promotion/relegation play-offs

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Denmark" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "Oliver Christensen". Hertha BSC. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  3. Dupont, Nicolai (17 October 2016). "OB-talent på besøg i Manchester United". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
  4. Wamsler, Morten (22 May 2017). "OB og Oliver Christensen laver tre-årig aftale". ob.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 October 2018.
  5. "Forbilledlig fight gav point på Brøndby Stadion". ob.dk (in Danish). 22 October 2018.
  6. "19-årig OB-målmand efter drømmedebut: Kan takke BIFs fans for ikke at have nogen stemme de næste tre dage". TV3 SPORT (in Danish). 23 October 2018.
  7. Jørgensen, Sune (13 November 2020). "OB-målmand afslører: Derfor bliver jeg kaldt Gribben fra Kerteminde". TV2 Fyn (in Danish).
  8. Halkier, Emil (12 November 2020). "Der er sket lidt siden dengang Gribben fra Kerteminde delte aviser ud i nabolaget". DR (in Danish).
  9. HERTHA BSC VERPFLICHTET OLIVER CHRISTENSEN, herthabsc.com, 26 August 2021
  10. "Hertha BSC II vs. Lokomotive Leipzig - 5 November 2021 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  11. "Lotka fehlt Hertha auch in Hamburg". kicker (in German). 21 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  12. "CHRISTENSEN IS A VIOLA". ACF Fiorentina. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  13. "Oliver Christensen drømmer om at komme til EM". ob.dk (in Danish). 6 November 2019.
  14. "Wind og Bah sikrer dansk 2-0 sejr over Sverige". Danish Football Association (in Danish). 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  15. Jørgensen, Sune (11 November 2020). "Debut på landsholdet: OB-målmand starter inde mod Sverige". TV2 Fyn (in Danish).
  16. Oliver Christensen at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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