Name: Frederik Rønnow
Age: 20 (04-08-1992)
Position: Goalkeeper
Club: AC Horsens
International caps: 
Denmark U21: 5 match(es)
Denmark U20: 1 match(es)
Denmark U19: 3 match(es)
Denmark U18: 4 match(es)
Value: £275.000 (transfermarkt.co.uk)
 
                           
 



He is 20-years-old, the best goalkeeper debutant in the Danish Superliga and has been compared with Gordon Banks. This week’s talent is Frederik Rønnow.

He started playing football in the local club Stensballe IK, before joining AC Horsens in 2008 aged 16. Here, he signed a contract with the club and at the same time rejecting a proposal from the league rivals Aarhus GF.
”I have always been happy to play in Horsens, but the other hand I have a lot of family in Aarhus. However, I talked with my parents as well as listing to my gut feeling and stayed in Horsens.”

Already the year after, Rønnow sign a contract worth three years with Horsens. The plan is that he will be playing fulltime in his last year of the contract. However, in 2010 he signs a new 5-years contract and starts his fulltime career in Horsens as a part of the senior squad.

Frederik Rønnow is now a regular face for the reserves in Horsens, but in September 2011 he is given his debut for the first team in the Danish Cup win against Holstebro. The future looks bright for the goalkeeper talent, but in the start of 2012 Horsens decide to bring in a more routined keeper, Robert Veselovsky.
”It was a special time for me as they brought a new goalkeeper to the club, which I had to compete with in every training session. The preseason was all about who did best and for the time being the coach decided that Robert [Veselovsky] was the starting goalkeeper”.

However, soon after Frederik Rønnow was given his league debut in the 1-0 win against Aalborg BK in March 2012.
”At the time, I felt that we were very equal, and I kept pushing myself in training and in the reserves matches I had, and it led to me getting a chance, and it has gone my way ever since.”

Frederik Rønnow became  an instant success in the Danish league with four clean sheets in his four first matches. This made him the best goalkeeper debutant in Denmark, and he had now made it clear that he was the first choice in Horsens. The media in Denmark speak well about the Danish youth national player, and he has developed to be one of the profiles in the league.
”It is very affirmative! At first I did not know what I was getting in to, and I am getting much more experience and routine, and it has become more natural for me to play. That people notice this and believes that what I do is great gives me appetite for more”.

Rønnow is also the youngest goalkeeper to have ever played in the Danish Cup final, and despite his young age he has already played European football. In 2012, Horsens med Swedish Elfborg and Sporting Lissabon from Portugal. In the first match against Sporting, Rønnow pulled one great save after the other securing Horsens a 1-1 draw. After the match, he was compared to the legendary Gordon Banks by the media.

But it is not only on the club level, that the talent plays against European stars. He has become the goalkeeper of the Danish U21 national team, where he so far has played 5 matches. However, as Rønnow is only 20-years-old, he will be available for the team next season, as well. However, asked if he was the next Thomas Sørensen, he answered that his focus was on the U21 team and in Horsens.