For anyone who loves stories about football clubs that believe in — and therefore invest in — new ideas and new ways of working, Midtjylland is a benchmark. For more than a decade, the Danish club has been coming up with new ways to do things, both on and off the pitch, to stay competitive. And the approach works, as the honours list shows: after their first national title in 2015, they have added three more Superliga titles, three Danish Cups and three appearances in the Champions League group stage. In the meantime, and perhaps this is the most important part, a number of talents have passed through Midtjylland on their way to establishing themselves in Europe’s major leagues: Alexander Sørloth, Artem Dovbyk, Jens Cajuste, Gustav Isaksen and Darío Osorio, among others, are the best-known players to have had a hugely formative spell in Denmark. And by formative we do not mean only in footballing terms.
Midtjylland’s real strength is that it sees itself and operates as though it were not a Danish club. Technical director Kristian Kjaer put it plainly in a conversation with the Guardian: “We think we are an international club, because we have no other choice: if we want to develop players who come from all over the world, we have to act that way.” So how does that idea work in practice? For starters, English is spoken within the team and across the club, and lessons are provided for anyone who does not speak it. “They are as important as training on the pitch,” Kjaer says. “There are three a week, and they are mandatory. If players don’t understand English within six months, they can’t communicate with the coach.”
There is also data-driven scouting and analysis, as well as a network of academies around the world, including FC Ebedei in Nigeria. Back in Denmark, meanwhile, Midtjylland pays close attention to every aspect of its players’ lives, starting with something as basic as nutrition. The recent case of Osorio, who joined Crystal Palace on deadline day, says plenty about the club’s approach: “Chilean football is not the most professional system when it comes to guiding players in their daily habits. Darío used to eat a lot of white bread for dinner and couldn’t understand why he didn’t have the energy he needed in the morning. One of the first things we did was analyse his nutritional plan.” It worked, it has been working for years, and this summer’s transfer window brought in just under €58 million, the most Midtjylland have ever brought in during a single window. It is not a coincidence, it cannot be, and in fact it isn’t.