Mikkel Damsgaard: The man to replace Eriksen’s creative spark for the Bees – scout report

Mikkel Damsgaard made a name for himself after arriving in Serie A with Sampdoria in the 2020/21 season. The dynamic Dane displayed fine form in his debut season, which earned him a place in the Denmark squad for Euro 2020. With the whole world watching, Damsgaard proved his ability by performing to high standards in highly competitive knockout matches, sparking interest from clubs all over Europe last summer.

However, since then, Damsgaard has been through a turbulent season, where supposed thigh problems kept him out of action. After being checked out in further detail, it was discovered Mikkel was suffering from arthritis, a condition which kept him out of action for 6 months. Since coming back from injury, Damsgaard has only had cameos off the bench, with patience required for him to reach the physical levels necessary to complete a full match.

The departure of Christian Eriksen to Manchester United has left Brentford with a lack of creativity in the final third, and Mikkel Damsgaard will have big boots to fill, but he definitely has the potential. Damsgaard looked up to Eriksen during his childhood, was inspired by him and studied his game whilst developing his skills. Damsgaard has already proven that he can fill Eriksens shoes, replacing his creativity for Denmark during the Euros, and will be hoping he can reach those levels again for Brentford in the Premier League. The deal has not been completed yet, with Damsgaard needing to complete a medical assessment, although Brentford have already shown their compassion and willingness to sign a player after a long absence with the signing of Christian Eriksen in January.

This scout report will contain an analysis of Damsgaard’s time at Sampdoria and for Denmark, showing what he is capable of when playing to the peak of his powers. It will also be a tactical analysis of how Damsgaard can fit in the tactics used by Thomas Frank at Brentford and how he can be the difference maker for them in the final third.

Where does he fit?

At Sampdoria, Damsgaard played most games as a left midfielder in a 4-4-2 with Tommaso Augello overlapping from left-back, although he was moved around from wing to wing and in central areas sometimes. Damsgaard is a versatile player who can rotate in most positions across the midfield and forward lines. Mikkel prefers to drift into central areas where he could get on the ball more often in more dangerous areas and dictate attacks.

During the last and more successful period of Brentfords season, Frank set the Bees up in a 4-3-3. There are two positions which Damsgaard could most probably fill, either directly replacing Eriksen on the left hand side of the midfield three or on the wing where his work load is lessened, especially as he comes back from such a long break from football. The heat map below shows how Damsgaard would start in wide areas before drifting centrally where he can get more touches on the ball.

Another position where Damsgaard can slot in, is as a right-sided central midfielder due to the arrival of Aaron Hickey, an inverted wing-back comfortable playing on either side. Hickey, at Bologna, would invert into central areas during attacking situations due to his comfort playing with either foot in central zones. If Damsgaard starts as a right central midfielder with Hickey playing at right-back, Hickey will be able to move into midfield during settled attacks, covering for Damsgaards slightly weaker defensive abilities when counter-pressing and allowing him to move to areas closer to the opposition box where he can create dangerous opportunities.

Dribbling

Mikkel Damsgaards arguably biggest asset is his ability to dribble out of pressure in tight spaces. Damsgaard is extremely nimble and agile, which makes it hard for defenders to keep up with constant changes of direction. He is excellent at manipulating the ball and deceiving the opposition by luring them into making a challenge before skipping past them. Damsgaard consistently drifts into central areas where he attracts numerous opponents and evades the pressure, which then allows his team to attack an underloaded defence.

One area where Damsg