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Norwich City fans are already buzzing with their latest signing, but they’ll be over the moon with this verdict on Mathias Kvistgaarden shared by a Danish football expert.
The Canaries have been very active in the transfer window this summer, but the capture of Kvistgaarden is seen as a real coup for the Championship side.
Even when the initial £12m fee was cited, the Kvistgaarden deal was a ‘remarkable’ one, but it was later revealed Ben Knapper and Lee Dunn had found a release clause in the striker’s contract that allowed Norwich to bag the Danish star for just £6.9m.
With big expectations on the 23-year-old’s shoulders already, we wanted to find out whether or not he’s the real deal, so we picked the brain of a Danish football expert to give us the lowdown.
Mathias Kvistgaarden is already better than Teemu Pukki
EFL Analysis spoke to Toke Theilade, the Editor-in-Chief at Vilfort Park, about Kvistgaarden and what Norwich fans can expect from their new signing. Turns out, there’s one big comparison that will get Canaries supporters very excited.
Theilade said: “Wayne Rooney is an interesting comparison because they are both smaller players who play with a lot of passion and heart with great finishing and technical abilities.
“Norwich fans will also remember Teemu Pukki, who also came from Brondby. I said recently that I think Kvistgaarden is actually a better player now than Pukki was when he left Brondby. He’s more complete and dangerous.”
Pukki is a modern legend at Norwich, so that’s a huge compliment to Kvistgaarden. Pukki scored 88 goals and added 29 assists across 210 games for the Canaries across a five-year stay in Norfolk.
The Finnish forward was the club’s top scorer in their two title-winning campaigns, and even managed 29 goals in the 2018/19 Championship season to be the league’s top scorer. If Kvistgaarden can achieve anything close to that tally in the coming season, he’ll be heralded a great signing.
Still, Norwich fans will be wary of Kvistgaarden using the club as a stepping stone, but if he can help them get promoted it won’t really matter.
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What are Mathias Kvistgaarden’s strengths and weaknesses?
We also asked Theilade what Norwich fans can expect from Kvistgaarden, both the good and the bad.
On the positives the striker will bring to the squad, he said: “You can see he has incredible body strength and is a very strong and agile player. He is small in height, but he is by no means weak. He can easily fend off players and his jumping ability is incredible. He has good technique with his head too and is dangerous in the air when given the opportunity.”
As for Kvistgaarden’s optimal role, it does sound like he will be Josh Sargent’s replacement, with the USA striker on his way out this summer.
“He is a striker, but he can play many different roles as a striker,” Theilade added. “This season he has been used as the number nine for Brondby, and had his best year when it comes to goal scoring.
“However, I think his best position is when he is lying behind another striker with a bit more freedom. He has played this role in the previous two seasons and excelled. Then he can run deep but also roam towards the wing or further back on the pitch to participate more. He has great technical abilities and can dribble past opponents too and also set up teammates.”
While Norwich fans are delighted with the Kvistgaarden deal, there are a couple of things they must look out for, with Theilade highlighting Kvistgaarden’s injury record as a particular worry.
He said: “As a player, his main weakness is his height. Other than that he is more or less complete as a player. However, my main concern is his injuries. He has struggled with a lot of injuries since he was promoted to Brondby’s first team and playing in a physical league like the Championship with so many games will be rough.
“He needs to be better at protecting himself, and know when to make business decisions about not going all in into all tackles. As a football player, I have no concerns. But the injuries will be a challenge, and are probably also the reason a bigger league didn’t come calling.”