Asger Strømgaard Sørensen

The Danish centre-back had joined Red Bull Salzburg as a teenager back in 2014 for a fee of €670,000, but first-team football in Austria proved hard to come by; he made only three senior appearances for the club and spent two seasons out on loan at Jahn Regensburg, where 52 games gave him the regular football he needed. A permanent switch to 1. FC Nürnberg in 2019 turned into his most productive spell yet, with 88 appearances and eight goals over three seasons — a notable return for a defender.

It was in Prague, though, that Sørensen had his best season. In 2022-23 he was named Best Defender and Best Foreign Player in the Czech First League, recognition that followed a fee reported at either €700,000 or €800,000 for his transfer from Nürnberg. That form eventually earned him a first call-up to Denmark's senior squad in October 2024, brought in as cover for Rasmus Nicolaisen, though he did not add a senior cap during that camp.

Sørensen's path to the top had been mapped out early through Denmark's youth ranks, progressing from the under-16s through to the under-21s, with whom he played at the 2019 European Championship. Before any of that, he came through the youth system at Silkeborg IF, not far from his native Virklund, after starting out at local club Virklund Boldklub.