Mikkel Damsgaard — Scout Report
This scout report is on Mikkel Damsgaard. He is not playing in a second-tier league, but nonetheless the Danisch Superligaen is a great league to scout in. The attacking-minded player currently plays at FC Nordsjælland.
- Name: Mikkel Damsgaard
- Date of birth: 03–07–2000
- Nationality: Danish
- Position: Striker, left-wing attacker, attacking midfielder
- Contract expires: 30–6–2022
- Current club: FC Nordsjælland, Sampdoria (from 01–07–2020)
- Previous clubs: FC Nordsjælland U19
- Current international: Denmark U21 (4/0)
The 19-year-old attacking players came through the youth ranks from FC Nordsjælland and has played in the first team since July 2018. He has played 81 games for the Danish side since and scoring 11 goals in the process. During the 2019/2020 season, he has played in 23 games in which he scored 9 goals and made 4 assists. It’s fair to say that he is starting to make his mark in the Superligaen.
This didn’t go unnoticed by the international scouts, which is why Sampdoria bought him in February. His current market value is €4,5 million according to Transfermarkt.com, but the Serie A outfit were prepared €7 million to FC Nordsjælland, which they ultimately did — Damsgaard will join the Italians in July 2020.
Damsgaard has played as a striker, left winger attacker and as a controlling midfielder and has been dubbed the Danish Frenkie de Jong, especially after the 2018/2019 season. In the current season, however, he has been brought more forward — as you can see in his stats in front of the goal.
FC Nordsjælland are fifth in the league and manager Flemming Pedersen 90% of the time opts for a 4–1–2–3 formation, followed by a 3–4–3 formation. In that 4–1–2–3 formation, Damsgaard plays as an attacking midfielder on the left side of the pitch.
As you can see in the image above, Damsgaard occupies the left side of the pitch and with this attacking intentions, he is involved with creating chances. He does well under pressure and is a mature footballer for his age, with a feeling for dictating the tempo in the game. This means he is instrumental to FC Nordsjælland’s game, as they play a high tempo football.
His technical abilities are good and he’s blessed with a great right foot which he uses to create chances via through balls. This season he has been involved in a more attacking role, as his 9 goals tell us. This could have been more, but he is not the best finisher around and he gets outmuscled on many occasions, as his physique is no match for the big defenders.
When FC Nordsjælland don’t have the ball, they play a high press which means that the attacking midfielders must press the midfielders of the opponent, which can be seen in the image above. He’s an intelligent player who know when to press the opponent in order to regain control of the ball.
If we look at his numbers, there a few interesting things to see. As told before, he has 9 goals in 23 games, but he also has 4assists. This means that he has an average of 0,43 goals per 90 and 0,19 assists per 90. If we add that up, it means that David has been involved in 0,62 goal/90, which is a terrific number for an attacking midfielder.
With a passing accuracy of 81%, he is on the average of the league, but this is a relatively good stat as he takes risks in his passing. He constantly is looking for an opening to deliver to the strikers/attackers.
For a player who’s physique is not great, he manages to get quite a few tackles and interceptions in, which makes him valuable in transition from attack to defence.
Conclusion
Damsgaard definitely is a huge talent with potential to be really good in a top-5 league. How he will do in the Serie A, is to be seen — but if he lives up to his potential as an attacking midfielder with defensive awareness, he could be an influential player in the future.
