Easy to write about now Morten Hjulmandit was certainly more difficult to catch him in 2020. The Danish midfielder was born in football in Copenhagen, doesn’t particularly shine because, like many footballers, he doesn’t explode immediately, he needs time. He made his debut for the first time with the big boys only when he decided to go to Austria, in the first division, atAdmira Wacker. Three seasons, enough for Pantaleo Corvino to notice him and his qualities. The investment made by Lecce for the class of ’99 is 170 thousand euros, a negligible amount if you consider the footballer he has become today.
Hjulmand he doesn’t make an immediate impression, he isn’t the phenomenon that makes the eyes of anyone who watches him play shine and in fact he only matures thanks to the continuity he finds in Puglia: 21 appearances in the first season, in which he arrived in January, and 38 in the second, both experienced in Serie B. The championship won and the consequent promotion to Serie A force the club to intervene on the market, but there are never any doubts about him: he cannot be touched. Few believed that he could make a difference and perform at high levels, but he proved everyone wrong: dynamism, ability to make preventive readings, running, polite footing, long throw and much more.
In the summer of 2023, after 35 appearances in Serie A and one salvation obtained with the Lecceit Sporting CP he bought him for 18 million euros plus a 3 million bonus and made him the starter in midfield. The step forward is an important one, the pressure in Lisbon increases, the team plays every 3 days and there is no time to take a breath. At the end of the season he will have played 49 games, scoring 4 goals, not a bad debut. If you then add the victory of the Liga Portugal, here is the icing on the cake that was missing. What is he missing? The acute in the international field. No sooner said than done. In his second appearance at the European Championship against Bellingham’s England, Foden, Stones and Walker invent the goal to make it 1-1. The consecration is near. Morten Hjulmand turns 25 today.
