Mathias Ross Jensen (born 15 January 2001) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He is the older brother of Oliver Ross.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mathias Ross Jensen | ||
| Date of birth | (2001-01-15) 15 January 2001 (age 21) | ||
| Place of birth | Aalborg, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Galatasaray | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2013 | Aalborg KFUM | ||
| 2013–2018 | AaB | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | AaB | 92 | (4) |
| 2022– | Galatasaray | 0 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2017–2018 | Denmark U17 | 11 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Denmark U19 | 17 | (0) |
| 2021– | Denmark U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2021– | Denmark U21 | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:19, 18 April 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:24, 17 September 2021 (UTC) | |||
Growing up in the Hasseris district of Aalborg,[1] Ross started his football career as a 10-year-old at Aalborg KFUM.[2] At under-13 level he joined the AaB youth academy.[3][1] In his first year as a U17 player, other centre backs were preferred ahead of Ross, which meant that he mainly appeared on the reserve team or as a substitute striker in the final minutes.[1] In his second U17 year, however, he became a regular player for the team in the U17 league.[1] AaB U17 finished the 2017–18 season in third place in the league table,[4] and in June 2018 he was named U17 Player of the Year in AaB.[1]
Ross made his professional debut for the AaB first team on 2 September 2018, when he came on as a substitute after 27 minutes instead of an injured Jakob Blåbjerg in a 2–2 draw against Randers FC.[5] At the time of the substitution, AaB were behind 2–1, and newspaper Tipsbladet described Ross' debut as "excellent".[1] A month later, in October 2018, he was permanently promoted to AaB's first team squad.[6] During the regular season he was utilised a total of three times, but from the relegation round he established himself as a starter in the first team. AaB eventually qualified for the play-offs to participate in the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League, where they were, however, eliminated in the first round against AGF.
In January 2019, Ross signed a contract extension keeping him in AaB until 2023.
On 8 September 2022, he signed a 4-year contract with Galatasaray.[7] It has been announced that a transfer fee of €1,750,000 will be paid to the player's former team, AaB.[8]
Ross made his international debut on 7 October 2017 as part of the Denmark under-17 team, when he was part of the starting lineup and played 90 minutes in a 3–4 defeat to Germany in a friendly match.[9] He went from being a peripheral player under the auspices of the Danish Football Association (DBU) to being team captain in the last match during the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[10][1] He made a total of 11 appearances for the national under-17 team.[11]
Ross made his first appearance for the Denmark under-19 team on 7 September 2018, and soon established himself as a starter.[11]
Galatasaray S.K. – current squad | |
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