Joel Ekstrand

Joel Ekstrand
Personal information
Full name Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand[1]
Date of birth (1989-02-04) 4 February 1989[2]
Place of birth Lund Sweden
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Bristol City
Number 5
Youth career
1997–2005 Lunds BK
2006–2007 Helsingborgs IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Helsingborgs IF 73 (1)
2011–2013 Udinese 12 (0)
2012–2013 → Watford (loan) 32 (1)
2013–2016 Watford 57 (1)
2016– Bristol City 2 (0)
National team‡
2004–2006 Sweden U17 5 (0)
2007–2008 Sweden U19 11 (1)
2009–2010 Sweden U21 9 (1)
2010–2014 Sweden 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 March 2015.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 March 2014

Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand (born 4 February 1989) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender for Championship side Bristol City. He has also represented Sweden at full international level and at various age levels.

Career

Helsingborgs IF

Ekstrand started playing football for his home town club Lunds BK as a youth player. In 2005 he moved to Helsingborgs IF. He made his first team debut against PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup Round of 32, at Philips Stadion.[3] Ekstrand had developed himself into a key player at Helsingborg before moving on to Udinese in 2011.[4]

Udinese

On 18 January 2011, Ekstrand penned a four-year deal with Udinese through to 2015.[5] Ekstrand debuted for the club when Udinese faced Lazio in a 2–1 victory in which he came off the bench in the 70th minute.[6]

Ekstrand made his first start for Udinese in a Champions League qualifying game against Arsenal.[7] For this match, Udinese changed from the previous season's 3–5–2 formation to 4–1–4–1, where wing-backs Mauricio Isla and Pablo Armero became midfielders, thus using 4 defenders instead of 3 centre-backs. Ekstrand remained in the starting XI in the return leg a week later with Udinese losing 2–1 (3–1 agg).[8] Ekstrand went on to make a further 17 appearances in all competitions for the 2011–12 season, picking up a total of seven yellow cards.

Watford

On 31 August 2012, Ekstrand joined Watford on a season-long loan from Udinese.[9] He made his debut against Charlton Athletic on 2 October, coming on in the second half to replace Neuton. After recovering from an injury setback, Ekstrand scored his first Watford goal in a 2–1 win over Derby County on 23 February 2013.[10] On 12 May 2013, Ekstrand played in the semi-final second leg against Leicester City. In a dramatic finale, after Watford goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved both a penalty taken by Anthony Knockaert and a rebound which would have sent Leicester through to the final, Troy Deeney scored in the seventh minute of added time to take Watford through to the Championship Playoff Final on aggregate, Watford losing the final against Crystal Palace.[11]

On 24 July 2013, Watford confirmed Ekstrand had signed a three-year deal with the club. He made his first start of the season away to Reading on 17 August 2013.[12]

Ekstrand scored his first goal as a permanent Watford player against Bolton Wanderers on 14 February 2015. On 24 March 2015, it was announced that Ekstrand would be out for up to nine months after damaging his cruciate ligament in a Football League Championship match against Ipswich Town on 21 March.[13] Watford gained Promotion to the Premier League, with Ekstrand playing 25 games during the promotion season.

He made a playing comeback from injury in January 2016 after being out injured since March 2015, playing 2 matches for Watford's development squad, however he picked up an injury in an against Boreham Wood. In February 2016, then Watford Manager Quique Sánchez Flores revealed the club were in talks to extend Ekstrand's contract at the club despite Ekstrand still recovering from injury, with Flores describing Ekstrand: Ekstrand could be a very interesting central defender for the future. He has experience and plays football very well[14]

After failing to make a first team appearance during the 2015/16 season due to injury and his contract situation changing after a change in management with Quique Sánchez Flores leaving the club and being replaced by Walter Mazzarri, on 3 June 2016, it was announced that Ekstrand would leave Watford upon his contract expiry.[15]

On 13 July 2016. Ekstrand had been set to sign for Championship club Leeds United on a free transfer, however after a medical and negotiations with the player, Leeds then pulled out of signing Ekstrand.[16]

Bristol City

On 6 September 2016, Joel Ekstrand signed for Championship club Bristol City on a one year deal, after training with the squad during August.[17] He made his debut for City in the 2-2 draw with Rotherham United on 10 September 2016, coming out as a substitute for Scott Golbourne.

International career

Having represented Sweden U21's, Ekstrand made his full Sweden debut in a friendly against Syria in 2010.[18] Ekstrand’s performances with Watford were rewarded with a return to the Sweden squad for the friendly game against Argentina on 6 February 2013.[19] However, he withdrew from the squad due to a knee injury.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Premier League Player Profile Joel Ekstrand". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "En debut som lovar mycket" (in Swedish). hd.se. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  4. ↑ "Official: Udinese Sign Joel Ekstrand From Helsingborg". goal.com. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
  5. ↑ http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/helsingborg-defender-joel-ekstrand-signs-udinese-1396281
  6. ↑ http://www.dn.se/sport/fotboll/ekstrand-bjuder-pa-pizza-efter-debut
  7. ↑ http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/article13479280.ab
  8. ↑ "Udinese 1 - 2 Arsenal (agg 1 - 3)". BBC Sport. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Watford sign five Udinese players". ITV Sport. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Watford 2–1 Derby". BBC Sport. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  11. ↑ Prentki, Tom (12 May 2013). "Watford 3 Leicester City 1 (agg 3–2): match report". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  12. ↑ http://www.watfordfc.com/news/article/130724-iriney-santos-941898.aspx
  13. ↑ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11686/9774447/ekstrand-blow-for-hornets
  14. ↑ http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/14247935.Flores_says_Hornets_have_begun_contract_talks_with_Ekstrand/
  15. ↑ "OFFICIAL: Hornets Confirm Retained & Released Players". Watford F.C. 3 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Leeds United: Whites decide not to take a risk on defender Ekstrand". Yorkshire Evening Post. 13 July 2016.
  17. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37107077
  18. ↑ http://svenskfotboll.se/arkiv/landslag/2010/01/ytterligare-tre-debutanter-i-syrien/
  19. ↑ "INTERNATIONALS: Hornets Called Up". watfordfc.com. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  20. ↑ "Watford's Joel Ekstrand withdraws from Sweden squad ahead of Argentina clash". watfordobserver.co.uk. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
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