Kristoffer Olsson

Mats Kristoffer Olsson (born 30 June 1995) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League.

Kristoffer Olsson
Olsson in Swedish national team in 2019
Personal information
Full name Mats Kristoffer Olsson[1]
Date of birth (1995-06-30) 30 June 1995
Place of birth Norrköping, Sweden
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FC Krasnodar
Number 14
Youth career
IK Sleipner
IFK Norrköping
2011–2013 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Arsenal 0 (0)
2014 → FC Midtjylland (loan) 6 (0)
2015–2017 FC Midtjylland 44 (2)
2017–2018 AIK 58 (7)
2019– FC Krasnodar 26 (1)
National team‡
2010–2012 Sweden U17 19 (3)
2012–2014 Sweden U19 15 (2)
2014–2017 Sweden U21 27 (6)
2017– Sweden 15 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2019
UEFA EURO qualifiers Sweden vs Romaina, 23 March 2019

Club career

Early career

Born in Norrköping in Sweden, Olsson started his career at IK Sleipner. When he was 13, Olsson was offered a trial at English club Chelsea, however he didn't attend and subsequently moved to IFK Norrköping. When he was 16, Olsson garnered interest by European clubs such as Juventus and Ajax, as well as domestically from IFK Göteborg. However, he signed for Arsenal in 2011[2] for £200,000[3] after having spent two previous trial periods with Arsenal.[4] While on trial at Arsenal, he played for Arsenal's under-16s against Crystal Palace and was invited to take part in the Ferrolli Cup and the Nike Cup[2] as a result of his performances.[5] Olsson revealed that it was the drive of Arsenal Academy manager, Liam Brady, who persuaded Arsène Wenger to sign him, that persuaded Olsson himself to sign for Arsenal.[6]

Arsenal
Olsson featuring for Arsenal in 2012

Olsson first played for Arsenal during their 2013 pre-season tour of the Far East. He scored his first goal for Arsenal against the Indonesia national football team at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta following a cross from Tomáš Rosický.[7] Olsson made his full competitive debut for Arsenal on 25 September 2013 as an 84th-minute substitute for Isaac Hayden[8] in a League Cup game against West Bromwich Albion, in which he scored a penalty kick where Arsenal came out winners and proceeded to the next round.[9]

FC Midtjylland

On 2 September 2014, Arsenal announced that Olsson moved to FC Midtjylland in Denmark on loan until the end of 2014.[10] He made his debut for the club in a 3–2 home win against OB Odense, coming on for Pione Sisto in the 78th minute.[11]

On 27 December 2014, the Danish club announced that a permanent deal had been agreed with Arsenal to make Olsson's loan move permanent, with the player himself signing a new three-and-a-half year contract.[12]

AIK

On 31 January 2017, Olsson signed for Allsvenskan club AIK.[13]

Krasnodar

On 7 January 2019, it was announced that Olsson had signed a contract with FC Krasnodar of the Russian Premier League.[14][15]

International career

He has also represented Sweden at various youth levels and his style of play has been compared to former Swedish Arsenal players such as Freddie Ljungberg and Sebastian Larsson.[2] In January 2015 Olsson received his first call up to the senior Sweden squad for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Finland. However, in his first training session with the team he broke his leg.[16] Olsson was, in May 2017, called up to the Sweden's squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship to be held in Poland.[17]

On 20 November 2018, Olsson played his first competitive match for Sweden against Russia at Friends Arena in Stockholm, in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League. Olsson started in the midfield and played almost the entire match. It ended as a 2-0 victory for the home side, which earned Sweden promotion to League A in the next edition of the tournament, as well as a play-off spot for UEFA Euro 2020.

Personal life

Before signing for Arsenal, Olsson's favourite football team when he was young was Manchester United.[4]

Career statistics

Club
As of 4 November 2018[18]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Arsenal 2013–14 00100010
FC Midtjylland 2014–15 1001000110
2015–16 27100100371
2016–17 1310080211
Total 50210180692
AIK 2017 2924061393
2018 2955140386
Total 58791101779
Career total 108911228114711

International
As of 8 September 2019[19]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201710
201840
201960
Total110

Honours

Club

Midtjylland

AIK

International

Sweden U21

References
  1. "Barclays Premier League: notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). Premier League. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  2. "Young Guns: Kristoffer Olsson". Arsenal.com. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  3. "Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger close to sealing a £200k deal for Swedish teenager Kristoffer Olsson". Daily Mail. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  4. "Next big thing at Arsenal? The youth international impressing in pre-season". talkSPORT. 30 June 1995. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  5. "Arsenal ponder deals for Swedish teenage duo Kristoffer Olsson and Robert Mirosavic". Daily Mail. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  6. 8, kl 15.24 (28 January 2013). "FREDAGSFOKUS: Svensken i Arsenal om Wilsheres beröm - och pingisbråket med PL-stjärnan - Engelska ligan" (in Swedish). fotbollskanalen.se. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  7. Marioni, Massimo (14 July 2013). "Olivier Giroud at the double as Arsenal smash seven past Indonesia Dream Team". Metro. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  8. Dan Ripley (26 September 2013). "Lowdown to Arsenal kids who beat West Brom - including Jay-Jay Okocha's nephew". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  9. "West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal - 25 September 2013". Soccerway. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  10. "Olsson joins FC Midtjylland on loan". Arsenal Football Club. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  11. "Hattrick-Sly sænkede OB i overtiden" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  12. "Lang kontrakt til svensk teenage-talent" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  13. "Kristoffer Olsson klar för AIK Fotboll" (in Swedish). AIK Fotboll. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  14. "Kristoffer Olsson lämnar AIK Fotboll" [Kristoffer Olsson leaves AIK Football] (in Swedish). AIK. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  15. ""КРАСНОДАР" ДОСТИГ ДОГОВОРЕННОСТИ О ТРАНСФЕРЕ КРИСТОФФЕРА ОЛССОНА" [Krasnodar reaches agreement on the transfer of Kristoffer Olsson] (in Russian). FC Krasnodar. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  16. "Sweden's Olsson breaks leg in training". uk.reuters.com. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  17. "Truppen till U21-EM uttagen" (in Swedish). Svenskfotboll. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  18. "K. OLSSON". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  19. "Landslagsdatabasen - Kristoffer Olsson". Svenskfotboll.
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