OB.dk
  • Name: Kasper Larsen
  • Age: 20 (25-01-1993)
  • Position: Centre Back
  • Club: Odense BK (OB)
  • International Caps:
    • Denmark U21
      • 5 matches / 0 goals
    • Denmark U20
      • 3 matches / 0 goals
    • Denmark U19
      • 13 matches / 1 goal
    • Denmark U18
      • 7 matches / 0 goals
    • Denmark U17
      • 13 matches / 1 goal
    • Denmark U16
      • 6 matches / 1 goal
  • Value: £300.000
Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Falk and Daniel Høegh are all players from Odense's youth department who have managed to break through in the best Danish league and for Christian Eriksen in Europe. Now, the youth department have fostered another talent with a high potential; Kasper Larsen.

Like many other boys in Denmark, Larsen started playing football in a very young age as he started in the local club Sanderum Boldklub at the age of 5. After almost 7 years in Sanderum, the talent decided to try himself out in Odense and joined the U15 squad even though he was only 13-years-old, and it was not an easy start for Larsen:

“I played for the U15-team, along with Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Falk, and had some problems at the start. However, as time went by I developed and became a regular part of the youth team."

Not only did Larsen become a regular part of the U15-team, he managed to become a regular starter for all of the youth teams he played for in Odense, despite being repositioned from the attaching midfield to the centre-back. A position where he achieved his first Danish International youth matches, as well. Since he was 15-years old, the defender have won 47 caps for Denmark's youth teams and is one of the leading players on the current U20 national team. The defender is more than happy with his career for Denmark:

"I have had some great experiences with the youth national teams, and have been a significant part of every one of them, so it is something I appreciate."

After breaking through as a defender, Larsen started training with the Superliga squad in OB from the summer 2011 and was given his debut in March 2012 against Fc Nordsjælland. However, it was only 6 months ago he started training regularly with the team, and only as much as his high school would allow him. Luckily for Larsen, he was a part of Sports Class in high school, which allowed absence when he was away with the team or Denmark. 

For Troels Bech, Manager of Odense Boldklub, there were no doubts when he promoted Larsen to the Superliga squad:

"We have a very hungry player, who is capable of playing on a high level and not just here to learn. He wants to achieve something for himself and his team."

When Kasper Larsen was brought into the squad, the competition for the position as centre-back was hard, why the talent was used both as a left back and left wing as well as the central midfield. The talent believes that the many different positions on the pitch has been good for his development, which is supported by his manager:

"It is fantastic for his development that he in a young age already have won over 30 caps in the Danish Superliga. Some of them might have been on different positions, but it has given him some routine and I think it is important to remember that some of the best stoppers in the world started in other positions. Puyol started as a winger, and learned the offensive play that way," Bech says.

In 2009, the newspaper SportFyn reported that a number of unnamed Spanish clubs were following the talent. Larsen never thought of leaving OB back then, and he ensure his manager and the clubs fans that he will stay in Odense and fight to keep his position as centre-back. Meanwhile, Troels Beck believes that his young talent has his time in front of him:

"He doesn’t have to worry about playing abroad, if his development continues like this, it will come all by itself."