With the Dane set to return to English Football with Nottingham Forest, we reflect on the key moments that have come to define ‘Lord’ Bendtner’s club career, from Arsenal to the City Ground.
Nicklas Bendtner on the bench
Loan to Birmingham
After impressing in the Arsenal u21’s a year earlier, Bendtner was loaned to Steve Bruce’s Birmingham in August 2006.
Along with fellow Arsenal graduates Fabrice Muamba and Sebastian Larsson, Bendtner helped Birmingham to a second-place finish in the Championship, scoring 11 goals, and securing automatic promotion.
This successful loan spell would lead to interest from a number of clubs across Europe, and ultimately provided Bendtner the opportunity to establish himself in the Arsenal first-team squad.
Birmingham City’s Sebastian Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner
First Premier League Goal
After returning to Arsenal for the 2007/8 season, Bendtner was slowly integrated into the first-team set-up. His first Premier League goal would come in time for Christmas, and what a present it would prove to be.
With the score-tied at 1-1 in the North-London Derby, Bendtner replaced Emmanuel Eboue as Cesc Fabregas prepared to take a corner. Six seconds after stepping onto the pitch, and under two seconds from the ball entering play, Bendtner had headed home his Premier League goal for Arsenal. The goal proved to be the decider, and still holds the record for the quickest goal ever scored by a Premier League substitute.
Bendtner scores for Arsenal
Champions League Hat-trick
By March 2010, Bendtner had experienced a number of highs and lows in an Arsenal shirt, and with the media baying for blood after a stretch of poor performances, he would silence critics with an important hat-trick in a 5-0 win against Porto.
Bendtner hadn’t been the only player under the spotlight, with Arsenal trailing 1-0 after the first-leg, but a fantastic all-round performance reminded everyone of the quality the youngster possessed.
Miss Against Barcelona
Almost exactly a year after his Champions League heroics, Bendtner would miss a vital chance in Arsenal’s Last-16 defeat to Barcelona. After taking a 2-1 lead to the Nou Camp, a questionable decision to send Robin Van Persie off for kicking the ball away, despite replays showing Van Persie’s kick to come split-seconds after the whistle was blown, allowed Barcelona to race into a 4-3 aggregate lead.
With time running out, Bendtner was presented with a golden chance just seconds after coming off bench. Jack Wilshere squared the ball to find him in space just outside the box, a poor first-touch however, allowed Javier Mascherano to recover, getting a toe on the ball and consigning Arsenal to defeat.
The miss would have a greater significance to Bendtner, as it appeared to be the final nail in the coffin of his Arsenal career.
Bendtner playing for Denmark
Winning Serie A & the German Super Cup
After a low-key loan spell at Sunderland, Bendtner would make a deadline day loan move to Serie A heavy-weights, Juventus. Many in Turin believed that they had signed a heavy-weight of their own, but unfortunately for Bendtner, this would be in a more literal sense, with the Daily Mail reporting that the Juventus coaching staff had branded him “too fat” to play.
Despite struggling with injury and a lack of goal-scoring form, Bendtner would leave Italy with a Serie A winner’s medal, making 10 league appearances in all.
With Juventus unwilling to make the deal permanent, Bendtner moved to Vfl Wolfsburg, where he would face further scrutiny from media and staff alike.
Bendtner however, persevered, battling through stretches of poor form and injury, to emerge with another piece of silverware; scoring the equaliser, and winning penalty in the German Super Cup against German Champions, Bayern Munich.
Picture Supplied by Action Images
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