Ludwig Augustinsson

Ludwig Augustinsson     22     Defender     FC København     Sweden

Skinny

Swedish left-back Ludwig Augustinsson is an easy player to like. Effective beyond his years in one position, a position fast becoming the most important and exciting in football, if you ask us, Augustinsson is Mr Consistency. He was born in Stockholm and came through the ranks at IF Brommapojkarna, playing around 30 league games before moving to IFK Göteborg in 2013 and overcoming injury to win plaudits for a very impressive 2014.

That year’s performance attracted the attention of FC København, who picked him up in January 2015. He’s been a regular ever since. He starts every game, give or take, and plays 90 minutes.

2016 has been…

The year Augustinsson completed football’s Scandinavian Level. He’s been ever-present in FCK’s UEFA Champions League campaign, which began in July, and has packed in a frankly silly number of games this year. København won the Danish Superliga as well as adding to 2015’s Danish Cup triumph. Augustinsson was instrumental throughout.

He models himself on Gareth Bale’s early years, and Augustinsson is a typical modern left-back in the sense that he plays essentially as a winger when FCK have the ball. He crosses well, but the decision-making regarding the type of cross to deliver will need to improve. His end product in general isn’t quite there.

When defending, FCK’s back four plays quite narrow. When not, the touchline is Augustinsson’s territory. He’s effective as a classic overlap, winning corners and getting his crosses away, and he’s something of a set piece specialist. Again, the end result of that isn’t always perfect. But the craft is there, on his left foot at least.

On the ball he’s neat, tidy and composed, and his team uses him a lot. His vision and awareness are good and his first touch is exceptional. He tends to look for a pass that keeps possession but he will ping it longer under pressure, and he can do the intricate passing work too; he’s technically very decent.

Defensively Augustinsson is streetwise, quick in recovery and able to cover the ground sharply and nip in to win the ball back for his team. In doing so, he demonstrates good tactical sense.

What’s next?

Augustinsson has played for Sweden Under-17s and Under-19s, as well as building a reputation over many caps for the Under-21 side that won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2015. And, since the beginning of 2015, he’s been in and out of the senior Swedish squad. Four of his appearances came in 2016 but he had to watch from the sidelines in France as Sweden competed in UEFA EURO 2016. He’ll be after more caps in the near future.

At club level, it seems Augustinsson isn’t long for Denmark. When West Ham United’s Aaron Cresswell sustained an injury in the summer, reports of a bid were rife. They resurfaced recently, with additional interest from Italy and also from Liverpool, a destination Manchester United supporter Augustinsson would, perhaps, be less open to. Wherever his next step takes him, it’s imminent. And, at 22, the time’s right.

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