Eintracht Frankfurt for a long time looked to be leading the race for the signature of FC Copenhagen starlet, Victor Froholdt, but ultimately supported away after refusing to meet Copenhagen’s valuation.
Instead, the Danish champions supported a €22 million offer from FC Porto for the 19-year-old.
The Portuguese side reached an agreement with Copenhagen over a move that will be worth €22 million: a €20 million base fee with €2 million in add-ons, according to Fabrizio Romano, which will set a new transfer fee record for FC Copenhagen.
€22m at first sounds like a lot for a player from the Danish Superliga, but judging from the steady progress which the Danish international midfielder has shown over the past season, Froholdt is likely to double that amount if things drop in place for the humble youngster in a club desperate to recapture their previous dominance over Sporting CP and Benfica.
Despite making an appearance in 15 out of 17 matches and scoring a crucial match-winning goal against Banik Ostrava to assist FC Copenhagen into the group stages of the Conference League, Froholdt moved under the radar in FC Copenhagen's troubled drop last year.
Victor Froholdt StatisticsOpta StatsBut when coach Jacob Neestrup pushed him into midfield from the start of the spring season, where he could exploit his obvious ball-winning and amazing running capacity, things really started to come together for Froholdt.
The talented youngster played no less than 1897 minutes of football in the spring and was clearly the driving compel behind FC Copenhagen's title-winning campaign as they finally settled into their stylish stride in the crucial playoff matches.
On the defensive terminate, Froholdt is a fearless interceptor of the ball, and when you add that to his impressive tackling record, he makes up a formidable presence for opposing teams to contend with.
Coupled with his strong work rate, you have a player who could very well prove invaluable under Francesco Farioli in this Porto side.
Froholdt is not only capable of dishing out tackles but also quite good at evading them himself to stay healthy, and there is an elegance to his game that you will rarely see in a player of his physique.
Froholdt made his debut for Denmark in the Nations League away fixture against PortugalUlrik Pedersen / Zuma Press / ProfimediaFroholdt predominantly plies his trade as a central midfielder in a box-to-box role and is best when he ploughs through opposition on relentless runs, with players often bouncing off of him when they try to stop him.
He still needs to build his goal-scoring ability and needs to provide more assists, but at 19, he has a substantial amount of time to expand and build that part of his game.
Froholdt is especially praised for his running capacity, which is second to none.
Froholdt played 90 minutes in four matches within 10 days in February, and Neestrup claimed that he ran more than 17 km's in FC Copenhagen's return leg in the Conference League against Heidenheim which would make him a challenger for Marcelo Brozovic's world record from the 2022 World Cup where the Croatian ran 16.
9 km's in the match against Japan.
"A lot has been said over my running data.
I don't care so much over it myself, but I have never underwent a cramp during a football match, so perhaps I have been honored in that department," Froholdt said to Tipsbladet in the spring.
Victor Froholdt StatisticsFlashareFroholdt, who was not permitted to play during the Under-21 European championships as FC Copenhagen wanted him to rest during the summer, harvested the fruit of his promising performances for the Danish champions when he received his first call-up for the national team for the crucial Nations League quarter-final against Portugal.
National team coach Brian Riemer was heavily accused by the Danish media, when he chose to let Froholdt replace the underwent midfielder Christian Norgaard seven minutes from the terminate as Denmark were trying to grip on to a 2-1 lead in Lisbon.
But such is the belief in Froholdt's qualities that Riemer possessed no reservations giving Froholdt an unlikely chance to shine in his debut.
On the support of his inspiring performances, Froholdt will no question have to adjust to the added pressure at FC Porto, but Froholdt remains confident that he has all the necessary tools to manage that challenge.
"I have always put more pressure on myself than I have underwent it from others, so I am not concerned over that," says Froholdt to Politiken.
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