Jeppe Kjær Jensen is a 19-year-old with 4 caps for Denmark U20. The young Danish started out in Horsens (Denmark), transferred to Ajax and, after nearly three seasons, moved to Norway (Bodø/Glimt). Without space in the squad, he was loaned to Sandefjord until the end of 2023. In the 2024 season (in Norway it starts at the beginning of the year) Kjær was loaned to the recently promoted Fredrikstad to get more minutes and experience.

Kjær is a versatile midfielder/winger that can play in the centre (as MC or AMC) and in both wings. He started his spell at Sandefjord in the middle of the season although he didn’t fully connect with the team nor the team with him. The young Danish has qualities for a more technical and teamplay football. At Sandfjord, he played as MC, in a 1-4-3-3 formation, on the left side. Playing with Al-Saed (LW) didn’t benefit him as the winger is not a team player and it limited him in the attacking moments.

Kjær is just 1,74m, prefers to use his left foot, has good acceleration and pace. Despite not having much strength, he isn’t afraid of duels or contact. He showed to be a creative player, very technical and prefers to play simple instead of overcomplicating things. Kjær has an excellent first touch and ball control which allows him to retain possession with ease. This young midfielder is intelligent on the field, reads the game well, has great vision and passing ability, usually choosing the best option. He also possesses great agility, spatial awareness, and good dribbling skills which in combination with his acceleration, technique and ball control, allow him to effectively change directions with the ball, and create spaces on opposition’s midfield and defence.

Kjær is tactically disciplined and knows the spaces where he should be. He’s calm, confident, has a decent work rate and teamwork.  He’s often communicating with the team and asking for the ball.

On the other hand, he struggles to fight in aerial challenges. He still needs to improve his stamina and the way he manages it.  He would benefit from more experience to manage the different phases of the game. Kjær needs to improve his defensive skills and his positioning while defending. Since he’s a more attacking player and has only been used frequently as central midfielder (MC) when he moved to Norway (2023), he still needs more time/games to be more effective and feel comfortable in this role. Finally, he needs to be more consistent (at least as an MC).

His first season in Norway hasn’t been a stellar one, but there were several factors that may have conditioned it. Sandfjord was struggling to avoid relegation. For Kjær, who moved mid-season, playing as MC in that playstyle was a new situation (previously he was at Ajax and Bodø/Glimt). The team didn’t fully connect with him nor understood him.

Overall, Kjær is a very young player with great skills and an amazing potential who still needs to grow and mature. There aren’t many doubts that he has talent to play in a higher level or bigger league. I hope that now in Fredrikstad, he’ll have the opportunity to play and to develop further.