Morten Hjulmand

Morten Blom Due Hjulmand (Danish pronunciation: [ˈmɒːtn̩ ˈjuːlˌmænˀ]; born 25 June 1999) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP, which he captains, and the Denmark national team.

Hjulmand joined Admira Wacker's youth system from Copenhagen in May 2018 and made his first-team debut in July. In January 2021, he moved to Serie B side Lecce, helping win the 2021–22 Serie B title, and achieve to promotion from the same division to Serie A. Sporting CP signed him in August 2023 and he helped them win the 2023–24 Primeira Liga title.

Hjulmand has also represented Denmark at various youth levels, before making his senior international debut in September 2023, and he was selected for UEFA Euro 2024.

Born in Kastrup, Denmark, Hjulmand progressed through the academy at Copenhagen, he moved to Austria on 13 May 2018 to join Admira Wacker's U-19 squad, signing a contract until June 2022. Hjulmand had never played any official games for Copenhagen's first team, but had been on training camps with them

He made his first team debut on 20 July 2018, in the 1–0 loss against Neusiedl in the Austrian Cup. Six days later, he also made his debut in the UEFA Europa League, starting in the 3–0 loss to CSKA Sofia, being replaced at half-time by Daniel Toth. On 29 July, he made his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga, coming on as a substitute to Daniel Toth in the 78th minute, in the 3–0 loss to Rapid Wien. In his first year with the Austrian club, he established himself as a starter, playing 32 games in total.

The following season, on 19 October 2019, he scored his first goal for the club's first team, in a 4–1 league win away to Altach. After two and a half seasons, he made 68 appearances, with this goal being the only goal he scored for the club.

Having started the 2020–21 season with Admira, on 16 January 2021, Hjulmand signed a four-year contract with Italian club Lecce for a fee of €170,000, in the second-tier Serie B at the time. He made his debut with the Giallorossi eight days later, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the league match, which ended in a 2–2 home draw against Empoli.

Having quickly established himself as one of the pillars of the team, he established himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie B, helping them reach the promotion play-offs semi-finals, where they failed to gain promotion to Serie A at the end of the 2020–21 season. In the 2021–22 season, Hjulmand accumulated the most minutes in the 2021–22 Serie B season, with Lecce being crowned Serie B champions, and gaining promotion to Serie A for the 2022–23 season, as a result, Lecce returned to the top flight after two years of absence.