Rosenborg's Nicklas Bendtner Is No Longer A Joke...

Rosenborg's Nicklas Bendtner Is No Longer A Joke...
13:44, 30 Sep 2017

Eleven years ago, Nicklas Bendtner made his league debut whilst on loan at Birmingham City. The game was finely poised at 1-1 when the gangly teenager emerged from the substitutes’ bench. Blues were reduced to ten men not long after and looked to be heading for a drab draw with newly-promoted Colchester United until Bendtner showed great touch and technique to bring the ball down and fire low into the bottom corner.

It was that touch of class that had been lacking all afternoon, and showed why Arsenal had been fielding so many enquiries for the Danish striker that summer. He had scored 18 times in 24 appearances for their reserves the season before and was already knocking on the door of the first team. Steve Bruce won the race for his services and he ended the season as Blues’ top scorer on the way back to the Premier League.

Bendtner was never quite a fans favourite at St. Andrew’s due to his propensity to drift in and out of games, occasionally indulging in a trick too many, but his talent was obvious. Regarded as one of the best young attackers in European football, Arsenal tied him down to a new five-year contract on his return in May 2007, fending off interest from AC Milan and Lyon. Over the coming seasons he featured intermittently, and scored some important goals, but became increasingly wayward.

His list of off-field indiscretions grew. From being photographed leaving a nightclub in a shabby state just hours after a Champions League semi-final defeat to being arrested for drink driving while on loan at Juventus, Bendtner developed a bad reputation. He left Arsenal permanently in 2014, looking to relaunch his career at Wolfsburg and begin to deliver on a series of grandiose claims.

Known for his ego, Bendtner has always aspired to be one of the all-time greats, despite the ever-widening gap between reality and his distorted self-perception. Although confidence is integral to sporting success, he became something of a caricature with a series of statements that bore little relation to his meagre achievements. The arrogance ended up being his hallmark.

“If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say ‘yes’ because I believe it,” he said in a 2010 interview, at the end of a season in which he scored six league goals. Wolfsburg didn’t turn out to be Bendtner’s salvation, with his contract terminated ahead of schedule, and a spell with Nottingham Forest was equally unfulfilling. Dropped by Denmark and drifting nowhere in particular, he moved to Rosenborg for an undisclosed fee in March.

In truth, Bendtner had all the ingredients to become the player he thought he would. It’s a shame that so much time was wasted and it’s taken a move to a less competitive league for him to buck up his ideas. Strong, effective in the air and with quick feet – comfortable leading the line or dropping deep to receive the ball – he shouldn’t be playing in Norway at the age of 29, arguably his professional peak.

Yet the change of scenery has served him well so far. As Rosenborg close in on the title, Bendtner is the division’s second top scorer with 14 goals in 22 games. He has five in his last three and it’s the first time he’s hit double figures since that season at Birmingham, back when he was just starting out. After a spell in the international wilderness, his form earned him a recall to the Danish national team this week.

For all the mockery, hopefully there’s more to come from Bendtner. He was also back in the news as Christian Eriksen moved ahead of him to become the top-scoring Dane in the Premier League with his goal against West Ham. Maybe one day Bendtner will come back to try to reclaim the crown. For someone who sets such great store in proving the doubters wrong it would be a fitting challenge to finally establish himself at the top level.

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