Michael Laudrup: The Best Midfielder of a Generation

Michael Laudrup: The Greatest Midfielder of All?

Football Journalist Drew Farmer takes a trip down memory lane to profile the great Michael Laudrup, possibly Denmark’s finest-ever player, and the best midfielder of a generation.

“One of the most difficult players I have worked with. When he gives 80% to 90% he is still by far the best, but I want 100%, and he rarely does that.” -- Johan Cruyff

Denmark is famous for a number of things.

The great beer Carlsberg is headquartered in Copenhagen. The country is also the home of Lego, arguably the most popular toy in the world. Hygge became a worldwide phenomenon in the mid-2010s with people all over the world adapting their lifestyles around it.

Yet, there may be one person that tops all three icons of Denmark, Michael Laudrup.

Okay, sure, Laudrup is unknown to people outside of the football world, and some who follow it, making Carlsberg and Lego more globally known.

He can at least claim to be more widely known than Hygge.

All jokes aside, Laudrup is one of the all-time football greats, an icon of the 1990s. It has been claimed that Laudrup is the “greatest forgotten midfielder” of his generation. It is true that when the greats of the 1990s are discussed, the former Ajax, Barcelona, and Real Madrid man’s name is commonly left off of the list.

Michael Laudrup’s early career

Laudrup started his career at Kjøbenhavns Boldklub after emerging from the team’s youth academy.

The attacking midfielder’s senior career began in 1981 and it wasn’t long until he was off to new surroundings. Brøndby signed Laudrup in 1982 but he played a mere one season at the club. It was a mercurial rise for the youngster, however.

He scored 24 goals in 38 games for Brøndby prompting teams from around the continent to take notice.

Many of Denmark’s earliest professional footballers found refuge in Italy.

Laudrup Signs for Juventus

Until the late 1970s, football in Denmark was still amateur and it wouldn’t be until Carlsberg’s pressure and the desire to perform better at the international level that Denmark would form a professional football league. Due to Italian clubs being attracted to Danish players, it made sense for Laudrup to sign with Juventus in 1983.

Before joining the Bianconeri on the pitch, Laudrup won the Danish Player of the Year award to solidify his place at the top of the domestic game.

Liverpool, the top English team of the 1970s and 1980s, attempted to sign Laudrup from Brøndby. However, when the Merseyside club offered him a four-year contract, Laudrup chose the three-year option given by Juventus.

Rome via Turin: Laudrup’s Move to Lazio

Despite being the largest transfer fee paid for a Danish footballer at the time, £1.35 million, Juventus could not field Laudrup in 1983-84. He was loaned to Lazio for two seasons due to Italian football having a strict rule of two foreign players per team.

Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini were already in Turin forcing Laudrup to Rome.

Although the dynamite Dane would find some success at Lazio – 70 games in all competitions with 12 goals – his return to Juventus in 1985 signalled a rise to the top that had been slightly delayed. His 12 goals in 42 matches helped Juventus win the Scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup. The two trophies were the only pieces of silverware Juventus would win with Laudrup in the team.

Barcelona and Cryuff

Laudrup had made a name for himself as a quick, intelligent attacking midfielder at Juventus, but it was his next career stop that really put him on the map. In 1989, Johan Cruyff signed Laudrup to be the centrepiece of his Barcelona team.

Laudrup was the creative player Cruyff dreamed of having in the side.

He was a Danish version of Cruyff, capable of turning a game on its head in seconds. Barcelona paid £2.70m for Laudrup’s services, but the results weren’t immediate. Barcelona finished third in La Liga that campaign, 11 points behind Real Madrid.

The Blaugrana did win the Copa del Rey, a trophy they have become synonymous with over the years.

Laudrup provided Barcelona with two very important things.

For one, the team were able to play freely in the middle of the park. This prevented Cruyff’s team from relying on wing play to create and/or score goals. Secondly, Laudrup’s profile as a goal-creator and provider would enable Barcelona to add more capable goalscorers to play in attack.

“The best player in the world, I can’t believe he hasn’t won the title as best player.” - Pep Guardiola

The Dane excelled in Cruyff’s team. Laudrup scored 54 goals and tallied 12 assists in 224 career matches for the Blaugrana. His assists stats may have been low, but it wasn’t always the final pass that Laudrup provided. It was the pass to set up the final ball.

Laudrup helped Barcelona to four straight La Liga titles, their pinnacle under Cruyff. A Copa del Rey trophy, two Supercopa de Espana trophies, a European Cup, and UEFA Super Cup were all lifted in a four-season period.

Sure, Pep Guardiola and company dominated competitions in the 2010s, but in many ways, the success of Barcelona under Cruyff from 1990 to 1994 was greater.

Due to Barcelona’s success over the last two decades, many football fans may not realise it was Laudrup’s Blaugrana that won the club their first-ever European Cup.

Barcelona reached the Champions League Final in 1994 with Laudrup a key player once more. However, a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of AC Milan showed that Cruyff’s “Dream Team” were done.

It was time for a new challenge. Foreseeing a transition at the club and facing his own form problems, Laudrup left after falling out with Cruyff, the man who signed him to orchestrate the team.

On the heels of winning the 1993-94 La Liga trophy, Laudrup, one of Barcelona’s Greatest Players, did the unthinkable, and joined Real Madrid.

Laudrup defects to Real Madrid

Real Madrid paid £8.64m for the midfielder and promptly won the La Liga trophy in 1994-95. While critics claimed Laudrup wanted to get back at ex-manager Cruyff, the truth was Los Blancos were a club desperate to stop Barcelona’s dominance. It was a project that excited Laudrup.

A two-year stay in the capital ended in 1996 as Laudrup made the strange move to Japan to play for second-division team Vissel  Kobe.

Despite being in his early 30s, Laudrup moved away from Europe and the intensity of football on the continent. His stay in Japan was brief as Ajax signed Laudrup in 1997 for £6.75m. It was the last rodeo for the talented midfielder. Eleven goals in 21 league games result in a Dutch Eredivisie title.

The trophy was the last Laudrup won in club football and a fitting send-off for one of the game’s all-time great midfielders, and one of Denmark’s greatest players.

“When Michael plays like a dream, a magic illusion, determined to show his new team his extreme abilities, no one in the world comes anywhere near his level.” -- Johan Cruyff

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