In the past few years, Red Bull Salzburg has considered itself an unknown in European football, and the Austrian champions have exaggerated in the Champions League. Not only do they bring enough excitement to the biggest stage in European football, they also provide a clear path for young teams to go from junior football to Europe's top flight. Since Red Bull Salzburg began to draw attention in the Champions League in 2019, players such as Haaland, Huang Xican, Sobosloy and Patterson Dhaka have improved at club and national teams and achieved excellent results, and potential suitors are waiting in line for the current batch of players, such as Adeyami and Aronson.
However, Salzburg has so many geniuses that some outstanding young people are destined to be left in the shadows. With Austria's best-ever Champions League journey in The Club ended in a 1-7 defeat to Bayern Munich in March, a young attacker was left behind by most. That night, 18-year-old Maurits Kjaergaard scored a beautiful comfort goal to become the second youngest scorer in the Champions League this season, behind Borussia Dortmund's Bellingham. It's not just about restoring a glimmer of pride to his side, as the goal at the Allianz Arena marks the Danish midfielder's outstanding form for months.
Since the beginning of the year, Kayergaard has taken a big step towards Salzburg's starting line-up and has performed better than his peers in the competition, which has attracted the attention of Austrian football. "The first thing I noticed was his technical ability," Jonathan Hartman, who coached Kayergard at his former club Limba, told the media, "He has excellent control over the ball, he turns and runs quickly, has extraordinary insight in key passes and can clearly understand the movements of his teammates." I remember the first time he went to first-team training. He was 15 years old at the time, and in his first training session, he had crotch-piercing against a more senior player on the team, and everyone went crazy. You can see his talent, even though he's young. ”
In 2019, after the Austrian giants paid €2.6 million for the signing, Kayelgaard joined Salzburg from Limbi to begin showcasing these technical features, scoring seven goals and assisting 14 times for Salzburg's second-tier side, Levlin. This helped him win the trust of Salzburg manager Matthias Jaisler, whose breakthrough in the first team also brought a Super League-level performance, and Kayergaard's blonde hair and confident pace drew attention to his rush into the opponent's penalty area, scoring eight goals in his first 20 adult games.
"Playing in Levlin is a really good opportunity," Cayergaard told the media, "at such a young age you can play against adults in professional leagues and it's perfect." I'm a fast player with good skills and vision. I adore Kaka, the way he plays the ball inspires me, the way he controls the ball. He doesn't have as much skill, but he runs with speed and a wide field of vision and combines it with a shot. I really enjoyed the way he played. Kayergaard already had Kaka's style in his own game, and the shadow of the younger version of De Bruyne also began to appear, as he pulled the defender too far and opened up space for other strikers.
He has a gliding dribbling style that is both dazzling and catching opponents off guard when he crosses the line. However, as the best players have shown, it's one thing to pass the ball while running at high speed, but it's another to calmly choose the right pass afterwards, as evidenced by Kayergaard's solid assist stats. Of course, technology alone doesn't equal success, but Hartman has confidence in his former students. He said: "He has always had a good work ethic. I think he's a talented player, but at the same time a very smart young man – the latter is even more important. His move to Red Bull Salzburg proved his wisdom. I believe he could have gone to a more famous club, but he thought it was a perfect place for players to grow up. ”
Kayergaard's growth in Salzburg is unquestionable. In less than three seasons, he appeared on the Champions League's top scorers list from Limby's youth team. In 2021, Salzburg renewed his contract until the summer of 2024, but that hasn't stopped interest from Serie A teams, particularly Juventus and Bologna. But now it seems that Kayergaard is satisfied with his current situation in Salzburg. "It felt good to move here. I'm thinking about my future," he explains, "what I need to learn is what Salzburg focuses on in their style of play: winning one-on-one showdowns, pressing high against opponents, I'm just getting used to that fast pace every day and trying to get better step by step." Salzburg's strengths are my weaknesses. If I could learn them, I would be a better player. ”
Given the club's history of developing young players with irregular development curves, Salzburg seems like an ideal place for youngsters like Kayergaard to be able to stay longer. "When I started playing, I was just playing," he concluded, "and I'm still happy." My teammates here have special talents and I just love looking at them every day. I will continue to do my best and play happily, we will wait and see. "If it's time for Kayergaard to move on, his skill, his willingness to improve and his motivation to play means you'll support the young Danes to settle down elsewhere. Salzburg offers a glittering shop window for young stars, and there should be no less destinations for Kayergaard in the future.