Christian Gytkjær


Christian Lund Gytkjær is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Monza and the Denmark national team.

Early life

Christian Gytkjær started his youth career playing for Roskilde, before moving on to Lyngby in 2005. In October 2007, he was invited for a trial at Liverpool in England with his brother, Frederik, ultimately nothing materialized from the visit. Gytkjær would go on to be Lyngby's top scorer in 2007–08 for the under-18 side.

Club career

Lyngby Boldklub

Gytkjær was called up to the Lyngby first team in the middle of 2008, taking over from the departed Mads Thomsen, who left for Nordsjælland in the previous winter, signing a new contract keeping him at the club until 2010. He got off on to a flying start, scoring 3 goals in 8 appearances in his debut season in the 1st Division. By the 2009–10 campaign, Gytkjær had become one of Lyngby's most anticipated talents to come through their renowned youth system.
On 2 February 2010, it was confirmed Gytkjær would leave Lyngby when his contract expired in the summer to join Danish Cup winners F.C. Nordsjælland on a free transfer, signing a 3-year contract, following in the footsteps of Andreas Bjelland, Andreas Laudrup and Morten Nordstrand, who had left Lyngby for the Farum-based club. While his future had been set, Gytkjær was still to play out the remainder of the 2009–10 season with Lyngby, where he was targeted by the supporters who disapproved in seeing another player their team had nurtured head over to neighboring rivals. The backlash was only increased when the player was photographed with an FCN shirt while still under contract to Lyngby.

Nordsjælland

Christian Gytkjær made his debut for "the Wild Tigers" in a 2–0 away loss to Superliga champions Copenhagen on 14 August 2010, when he was brought into the team to replace Nicki Bille Nielsen, who was sold to Villarreal.

Lech Poznań

On 28 June 2017, he signed a two-year contract with Ekstraklasa side Lech Poznań, with the option for an extra 12 months.
He made his debut for the club during the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round away game against FK Haugesund, which Lech lost 3–2. He scored his first goal for Lech in a 5–1 home win over Piast Gliwice in the third round of the 2017–18 season.
On 7 March 2019, he signed a contract extension, running until the end of the 2019–20 season.
On 19 July 2020, during his last game for Lech, he scored twice in a 4–0 home win against Jagiellonia Białystok and led the team to secure the 2nd place of the 2019–20 season. He finished the campaign as top scorer with 24 goals. He also won Forward of the Season award. During the three years at Lech Poznań, he played in 119 games and scored 65 goals, which made him the best foreign goalscorer in club's history.

Monza

On 22 July 2020, Gytkjær joined newly-promoted Italian Serie B side Monza on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the option of a third.

International career

Gytkjær was part of the Danish under-17 team that won the 2006 Nordic Championship in the Faroe Islands. He scored 3 goals in a 4–0 win over England in the final.

Personal life

Christian Gytkjær has a younger brother, Frederik, who currently plays for Lyngby.

Career statistics

Club

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
126 March 2019St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland2–33–3UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
25 September 2019Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar5–06–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
35 September 2019Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar6–06–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
415 October 2019Aalborg Stadium, Aalborg, Denmark4–04–0Friendly
515 November 2019Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark2–06–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Club

FC Nordsjælland
Rosenborg
Denmark U17