Victor Kristiansen joined Leicester City last January for £17 million; after 13 months, the Dane could move again.
After just 14 appearances in a blue jersey following his move from Copenhagen last year, the 21-year-old was loaned to Italian side Bologna in the summer after realising he was not key to new boss Enzo Maresco’s plans.
With the new boss opting to play with three full-backs and use wing-backs, just a few months after moving to England the defender was considering his future.
Since joining boss Thiago Motta in Serie A, the young talent has gone from strength to strength; after good performances this season, he helped the Rossoblu fight for a Champions League place in Italy.
Victor Kristiansen’s contract situation:
Brendan Rodgers lured the hot youngster to the King Power Stadium when the Foxes were fighting to stay in the Premier League.
According to reports, the £17 million Dane has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2028, but already indications are that his time in England will be much shorter than planned.
After breaking into the Copenhagen first team in the 2020/21 campaign, Kristiansen has amassed 70 appearances for the reigning Danish Superliga champions, while also gaining experience playing in the Champions League and the Conference Europa League.
After hitting the net for the first time in his last appearance for the club (a 2-0 away win at Aarhus), he made his FA Cup debut in January 2023 in a 1-0 win over Walsall.
Two more wins against Aston Villa and Tottenham in his first two appearances showed the first signs of City’s fortunes turning, but a difficult end to the campaign saw them return to the Championship after nine seasons in the Premier League.
Kristiansen was left out in the cold after the arrival of Enzo Maresco:
The new boss has used a system that does not exploit his abilities in the flank positions, while James Justin has cemented his place on the left side of defence.
Maresca knew already in the summer that Kristiansen and many other teammates in his unique formation would not have a big influence on his plans, as the left side defender is used more than the left central defender.
“I don’t think Victor and Luke [Thomas] can play inside like Ricardo [Pereira] does now. We can probably try to use them in a different way, Victor in the way we use Callum [Doyle],” Leicester Live reported in the summer.
“We are trying to do that, but at the same time we understand that their best quality is playing in the full-back role. That’s the way they’ve played all their lives. We’re trying to teach them some concepts.”
For Kristiansen, the writing was already on the wall and he quickly started preparing for a move away from the club, as Bologna Sport News reported after his arrival in Italy:
“Leicester changed manager, they wanted me to play as a central defender, but I preferred to continue playing in my role.
“I told my agent that I had to change teams and become a full-back. Bologna came and offered me a nice project.”
After a slow start to the campaign, Kristiansen has now taken over at left-back for Bologna, recording three assists in attack and helping to contribute to the fourth-best overall defence in the league with just 23 goals conceded this campaign, according to FotMob.
He has already spoken to the Italian press about his current plight, saying in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) that he has “no future” at Leicester.
His good performance against Lazio, which his current club won 2-1 last weekend, only increased his chances of moving permanently to Italy in the summer, as he set up the winning goal for Joshua Zirkzee with a perfectly executed cross.
With limited playing time at his home club, Kristiansen’s incentive to move abroad and seek more minutes came in handy; the only positive for the Foxes will be that they will have a good chance of recouping the original cost.
Given that European football is a strong possibility for Motta’s squad next year, Bologna will see the deal as a smart investment, and Leicester will treat him as one who has left.