Hjalmar Ekdal

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Defender Hjalmar Ekdal

STARTS

MINUTES

APPS

POSITION

Defender

AGE

HEIGHT

6' 2"

COUNTRY

BIO.

Ekdal became a Claret in January 2023 signing from Djurgårdens IF on a four-and-a-half-year deal. Born in the capital of Stockholm, Ekdal is a full Swedish international. Having played for his home nation as an U19 & U21, he made his senior debut for ‘Blågult’ in June 2022 against Serbia. Ekdal’s career at Club level began as a youngster with local side IF Brommapojkarna whom he played for up until 2017 when he made the move to America for education purposes, also making the switch to college soccer with UNC Wilmington Seahwawks. While in the US, he picked up a whole host of awards for his performances on the pitch, including the ‘Rookie of the Year’ in his first 12 months for the Colonial Athletic Association’s Men’s Soccer category. Moving back to Sweden in May 2018, Ekdal penned a two-year deal with second-tier outfit IK Frej. And after a first season with ‘Kyrkråttorna’ which also saw him head out on loan to Assyriska FF in the third-tier, 2019 proved a breakthrough year as the defender earned a move to Hammarby IF in the top-flight of Swedish football. Spending 18 months at Hammarby, Ekdal was sent back on loan to IK Frej and also enjoyed a loan spell with IK Sirius where he would impress in 26 league appearances, and set up a move to Djurgårdens IF in January 2021. Making a total of 69 appearances for ‘Järnkaminerna’, Ekdal netted eight times and featured heavily in their UEFA Conference League run, playing in all six qualifying games and all bar one group stage game as Djurgårdens topped a group containing Gent, Molde & Shamrock Rovers. The 6” 1” centre-back made the move to England and linked up with Vincent Kompany’s side in January 2023 ahead of the second half of the 2022/23 campaign. Ekdal made his debut against Norwich City and scored the second goal in a 3-0 win at Carrow Road and went on to play nine games in total before picking up an injury as the Clarets went on to win the Sky Bet Championship title. The defender made his Premier League debut in a victory against Sheffield United in December 2023 as a substitute, before making his full PL debut against Wolves in the following fixture. After suffering an injury during the first half of the Championship season, Ekdal spent the latter half of the 2024/25 season on loan at FC Groningen, where he made 14 starts in the Eredivisie.