Nicolai Larsen

Nicolai Oppen Larsen (born 9 March 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays for Silkeborg IF.

Larsen played for Lyngby Boldklub from 2005, whom he moved to from the youth academy of Herlev IF.

He never made a senior appearance for Lyngby, but gained several caps for Denmark national youth teams during his time at the club.

While at Lyngby, Larsen went on trials abroad, among others with English club Everton.

Upon his arrival at AaB, he became the backup to starting goalkeeper, Karim Zaza, who played in AaB for four years, between 2007 and 2011.

Beginning his career in Lyngby Boldklub, Larsen moved to AaB in 2010.

He moved away from Lyngby Boldklub in 2010.

On 15 June 2010, ahead of the 2010–11 season, AaB signed Larsen on a two-year contract.

Then director of sports in AaB, Lynge Jakobsen stated in the club's press release that "Nicolai is young, but has the potential to become a Superliga goalkeeper, and with us he will, among other things, through daily practice with Karim Zaza and our goalkeeping coach Poul Buus have the opportunity to continue his development".

Larsen made his debut for AaB as a 20-year-old when he started in an away match against Brøndby IF on 17 July 2011.

His first senior appearance ended in a 2–2 draw, where he played the full 90 minutes.

Larsen was considered the starting goalkeeper in the 2011–12 season, his second at AaB, after Zaza's contract with the club was not extended, despite the club being saved from relegation on the last day of play in the regular season.

Addressing Larsen's debut, Kent Nielsen, AaB's head coach, stated that "we [AaB] are therefore full of confidence and feel safe starting him, just as we are sure that he can also tackle the adversity that will come, sooner or later."

Carsten Christensen was brought in as a backup for Larsen in the summer of 2011, leading up to his debut season.

In his debut season, Larsen made 32 appearances out of 33 possible in the Superliga.

He received two warnings during the season.

There, he established himself as a starter and was part of a historical season where AaB won the Danish Double, as they secured the Danish Superliga and the Danish Cup in the 2013–14 season.

In the 2013–14 Danish Superliga season, his third season as the club's starting goalkeeper, he made 32 out of 33 possible appearances in the league, playing full time in all 32 matches.

In these 32 matches, Larsen also incurred one single warning in a match against Randers FC on 11 November 2013, which resulted in him receiving three suspension points.

In December 2013, he was voted second in Danish Goalkeeper of the Year awards by his fellow Superliga and 1st Division (second-tier) goalkeepers for 2013.

AaB would go on to win their fourth Danish championship in the 2013–14 season.

He also experienced personal success at the club, winning the Danish Goalkeeper of the Year award for 2014.

In 2014, he received a call-up for the Denmark national team, but failed to make an appearance.

Larsen signed a four-year contract extension on 2 May 2014, keeping him at the club until 30 June 2018.

The title was secured on 11 May 2014, where AaB drew 0–0 away against FC Vestsjælland, as FC Midtjylland lost 3–2 to Copenhagen, which effectively made the club from Aalborg Danish champions.

AaB also won the Danish Cup this year, defeating Copenhagen in the final on 15 May 2014 to secure the Danish Double.

To kick off the new season, Larsen appeared in two UEFA Europa League qualifiers on 18 and 26 July 2014 against Georgian club Dila Gori, where AaB lost 3–0 on aggregate.

On 26 December 2014, it was announced that Larsen had won the Danish Goalkeeper of the Year award of 2014.

At the age of 20, Larsen signed a four-year contract extension with AaB keeping him a part of the club from Aalborg until 2015.

He signed the contract at a point, where he had made 17 official first-team appearances for AaB.

The following season also saw him as the starting goalkeeper for AaB.

He played all 33 matches from start, and also played a full 90 minutes in them all.

At the end of the season, Larsen had played 2970 minutes in total in the 2012–13 season, as AaB finished in 5th place.

It had originally been planned that the award should have been presented to Larsen prior to the match against Brøndby IF on 22 February 2015 by Troels Bager Thøgersen, editor-in-chief of Tipsbladet, but Larsen had to postpone in the last minute due to illness, and therefore the award was presented to him at the match against Randers FC on 8 March 2015.

Larsen received 58 out of 72 possible votes from his goalkeeper colleagues, while second-place in the competition, Karl-Johan Johnsson from Randers FC, received 34 votes.

On winning the award, Larsen stated that "[t]his is one of the big ones. It is a personal title, and it makes it is awesome that my competitors and colleagues are the ones who vote [...]" and he continued "[t]his is one of those awards I will look back on and be proud of[...]".

After seven years at AaB, Larsen moved to Nordsjælland in 2017.

He would initially struggle to make the team, but eventually became the starting goalkeeper.

In 2020, at age 29, he earned a move to French club Guingamp, but returned to Denmark after one season, signing with Silkeborg.

Larsen is a Danish youth international, and has gained 37 caps for different national youth teams between under-16 and under-21 level.