Michael Krohn-Dehli made his professional debut on 15 August 2004 for RKC Waalwijk, in a goalless Eredivisie draw with FC Groningen. Born in Copenhagen on 6 June 1983, he played as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a winger. His career took him through the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain, and he retired in July 2020.
He started out at Rosenhøj BK and then came through the youth sides of Hvidovre IF and Brøndby IF. In 2002 he left Brøndby for the Ajax academy. He never did enough to earn a place in the first team and moved on to RKC Waalwijk, a smaller Dutch top-flight club. He spent two seasons there, from 2004 to 2006, playing 48 league games and scoring twice. Those two years gave him the minutes he had not found in Amsterdam.
Ajax, Sparta and the return to Denmark
In 2006 he went back to Ajax. His league debut for the club came on 17 September 2006 in a 2-0 win over Roda JC, but he made only four league appearances for them. He spent the 2006-07 season on loan at Sparta Rotterdam, playing 12 games and scoring once. With no route into the Ajax side, he was sold to Brøndby in 2008. His first game of his second spell there was on 31 August 2008, against FC Copenhagen. At Brøndby he finally found regular football: 122 league games and 26 goals between 2008 and 2012. In 2010 he was the club’s top scorer in the Superliga with nine goals, and the members voted him player of the year in 2010 and 2011.
Celta Vigo
On 21 August 2012, Celta Vigo, newly promoted to the Spanish top flight, announced his signing. He made his debut in the third round of matches, at Anoeta against Real Sociedad, and on 26 January 2013 he scored against the same opponents at Balaídos. He spent three seasons in Vigo, from 2012 to 2015, playing just over a hundred league games. Under Eduardo Berizzo he dropped deeper and ended up as a central midfielder, closer to the build-up than to the opposition box.
Sevilla and the knee injury
On 1 June 2015 he signed a two-year deal with Sevilla. On 28 April 2016, in the Europa League semi-final against Shakhtar Donetsk, he dislocated his left kneecap. Sevilla went on to win the 2015-16 Europa League that season, with the final played in Basel. His recovery dragged on: in January 2017, before he had returned, he needed another operation, and he was not back in a matchday squad until May 2017, against Real Sociedad. In all he played 42 league games for Sevilla and scored twice between 2015 and 2018.
Deportivo La Coruña and retirement
On 29 January 2018 he joined Deportivo La Coruña on a free transfer. He played 25 league games at Riazor without scoring. The club were relegated to the Spanish second division in 2018 and, after the 2018-19 season, Krohn-Dehli left in July 2019. He spent a year without a club, and on 10 July 2020 he announced through his agent that he was retiring from professional football. He finished his club career with 354 league appearances.
Denmark national team
He played for Denmark at under-19, under-20 and under-21 level before his senior call-up. His senior debut came on 11 October 2006, in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Liechtenstein. His best year for the national team was 2011, with four goals, including one against Portugal in a 2-1 Euro 2012 qualifying win. At the tournament itself, held in Poland and Ukraine, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Netherlands on 9 June 2012, and the equaliser against Germany on 17 June in a game Denmark lost 2-1, which sent them out in the group stage. After three years out of the squad he was recalled for the 2018 World Cup, and he stepped down from international football after that tournament, having scored six senior goals for Denmark between 2006 and 2018.
