Per Krøldrup

Per Billeskov Krøldrup (born 31 July 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Per Krøldrup
Personal information
Full name Per Billeskov Krøldrup
Date of birth (1979-07-31) 31 July 1979
Place of birth Farsø, Denmark
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1][2]
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1985–1994 Farsø/Ullits IK
1994–1998 Aalborg Chang
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 B.93 57 (8)
2001–2005 Udinese 91 (3)
2005–2006 Everton 1 (0)
2006–2012 Fiorentina 117 (3)
2013 Pescara 5 (0)
2013–2014 Olhanense 17 (4)
Total 288 (18)
International career
2004–2010 Denmark 33 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He has played 33 games for the Denmark national team, and was part of their squad for the 2004 European Championship.

Club career

Early career

Born in Farsø, Krøldrup started his footballing career at Danish lower league clubs Farsø/Ullits IK and Aalborg Chang. He then went on to play for Copenhagen-based B.93 in the second-tier Danish 1st Division before transferring to Udinese in the Italian top-flight Serie A championship in 2001. In his final season at the club, they finished fourth and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.[3]

Everton

In June 2005, Krøldrup moved from Udinese to English club Everton on a four-year deal for a transfer fee of £5million.[4] Before having played a single game for the club, he suffered a groin injury and had to undergo surgery.[4] He made his debut for Everton on 26 December 2005[5] in a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa, which was to be his only league game for the club.[6]

His Everton career was later described as one of the worst transfers in the history of the club and English football,[7][8] and Krøldrup has stated his difficulties of adapting to the physical aspects of the English game.[9]

Fiorentina

Krøldrup transferred back to Italy on 19 January 2006, when he joined ACF Fiorentina, 31 days after his Everton debut.

Following the 2006 Serie A scandal, where several clubs were on trial for match fixing, Fiorentina were initially relegated to Serie B in July 2006. Krøldrup was amongst the players wanting to leave. However, as Fiorentina made an appeal to the Italian Football Federation, the club remained in Serie A and most of their players, including Krøldrup, remained with the Florence club. He made his Champions League debut on 12 August 2008 against Slavia Prague, a 2–0 win for La Viola.

Krøldrup's contract with Fiorentina was set to expire in June 2010, but on 17 May 2010 he signed a new deal that expired in 2012.[10]

Pescara and Olhanense

On 8 March 2013, Krøldrup signed a short-term contract with Serie A club Delfino Pescara 1936 for the rest of the 2012–13 season.[11]

After a Summer as a free agent, he signed for Olhanense of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on 1 October 2013.[12]

International career

At Udinese, Krøldrup played alongside Danish national team player Martin Jørgensen, who claimed that Krøldrup was ready for the Danish national team in March 2002.[13] Krøldrup was not called up for the national team until February 2004, making his debut against Turkey.[14] He was a part of the Danish squad for the 2004 European Championship, though he did not play any games at the tournament.[14]

References
  1. "Per Krøldrup". ACF Fiorentina. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011.
  2. "FIFA.com – 2010 FIFA World Cup™ – per KROLDRUP". Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  3. "CNN.com – Kroldrup poised to join Fiorentina – Jan 19, 2006".
  4. Per Krøldrup – Defender Archived 2 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine ToffeeWeb.com
  5. "Aston Villa 4-0 Everton". 26 December 2005.
  6. Per Krøldrup at Soccerbase
  7. Michael Kettiros, Top Ten: Players who made us both laugh and cry, Liverpool Echo, 21 February 2009.
  8. Bill Edgar, Top 50 worst transfers, The Times, 18 July 2007
  9. Dominic King, Fiorentina v Everton: Per Kroldrup admits he couldn't cope with the Premier League, Liverpool Echo, 6 March 2008
  10. Kroldrup signs new Fiorentina deal, Ontheminute.com, 17 May 2010
  11. Officielt: Krøldrup på plads i Pescara, Ekstra Bladet, 8 March 2013
  12. "Former Everton Defender per Kroldrup Set for Olhanense Move". October 2013.
  13. (in Danish) Kurt Lassen, "Thomas Helveg melder afbud til testkamp", Berlingske Tidende, 19 March 2002
  14. (in Danish) Per Krøldrup – Alle hold (Alle kampe)
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