Player Profile - Nicklas Bendtner

Nicklas Bendtner, born in Copenhagen on the 16th January 1988 started his footballing career at Danish minnows Kjøbenhavns Boldklub. He impressed Gunners chief scout Steve Rowley whilst playing for the Danish Under 18’s before being snapped up by Arsenal for an undisclosed fee.

He was brought straight into the Arsenal reserve side where he formed a prolific striking partnership with Italian teammate Arturo Lupoli (now at Fiorentina). Nicky made his first team debut at Sunderland where he came on for the final few minutes as a substiute for Dutch ‘wizz kid’ Quincy

Nicklas made his biggest impression whilst out on loan to then Championship club Birmingham City in 2006. He made his Brum debut against Colchester City and immediately took to the fans by scoring the winning goal in the last half hour.

The loan spell wouldn’t end there though, Arséne Wenger extended it till the end of the season and Bendtner helped Birmingham get promoted to the Premier League with some vital goals along the way.

The Dane probably made his biggest impression when he came on as a sub at the Emirates against Spurs. He made an instant impact by scoring from a Fabregas corner and netting the all important winner.

Nicklas is never too far from controversy though. His confident attitude is open for everyone to see, and when Emmanuel Adebayor went head to head with him in the League Cup Semi v Spurs, there was immediately a clash between the two, matters had to be settled by an angered Arséne Wenger.

To finish with, Nicklas’ international record is growing faster by the second. 19 goals in 80 appearances for Denmark, a pretty good stat for a player who’s extremely underrated within the footballing game.