{{short description|Danish footballer (born 1994)}} {{distinguish|text=the Danish footballer Casper Højer Nielsen}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Casper Nielsen | image = Casper Nielsen 2016 olympics.jpg | caption = Nielsen at the 2016 Summer Olympics | full_name = Casper Mørup Nielsen<ref>{{cite web |url=http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/81/29/21/oft2016playerlist-update09.01.2017_neutral.pdf |title=Olympic Football Tournaments Rio 2016 – Men: List of Players |website=FIFA.com |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association |format=PDF |date=9 January 2017 |access-date=2 March 2018 |archive-date=17 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417184250/http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/81/29/21/oft2016playerlist-update09.01.2017_neutral.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1994|4|29}} | birth_place = Esbjerg, Denmark | height = 1.82 m<ref>{{cite web |title=Casper Nielsen |url=https://www.clubbrugge.be/en/teams/a-kern/players/casper-nielsen |publisher=Club Brugge KV |access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref> | position = Midfielder | currentclub = Standard Liège | clubnumber = 94 | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Esbjerg fB | years1 = 2013–2017 | clubs1 = Esbjerg fB | caps1 = 90 | goals1 = 1 | years2 = 2017–2019 | clubs2 = Odense | caps2 = 73 | goals2 = 5 | years3 = 2019–2022 | clubs3 = Union SG | caps3 = 92 | goals3 = 18 | years4 = 2022–2025 | clubs4 = Club Brugge | caps4 = 86 | goals4 = 11 | years5 = 2025– | clubs5 = Standard Liège | caps5 = 26 | goals5 = 5 | nationalyears1 = 2009–2010 | nationalteam1 = Denmark U-16 | nationalcaps1 = 5 | nationalgoals1 = 1 | nationalyears2 = 2010 | nationalteam2 = Denmark U-17 | nationalcaps2 = 3 | nationalgoals2 = 0 | nationalyears3 = 2013 | nationalteam3 = Denmark U-20 | nationalcaps3 = 5 | nationalgoals3 = 1 | nationalyears4 = 2015–2017 | nationalteam4 = Denmark U-21 | nationalcaps4 = 22 | nationalgoals4 = 4 | club-update = 31 May 2026 | nationalteam-update = }} '''Casper Mørup Nielsen''' (born 29 April 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège.
He is the son of former Esbjerg top scorer Henrik "Ismand" Nielsen.
==Club career== ===Esbjerg=== Nielsen signed his first professional contract with Esbjerg in June 2009 only 15 years old.<ref>[http://www.bold.dk/nyt/Esbjerg-skriver-med-15-aarig Esbjerg skriver med 15-årig]</ref> A few months later, he went on a trial with English Premier League club Manchester City.<ref>[http://www.bold.dk/nyt/15-aarig-City-ikke-meget-bedre-end-Esbjerg 15-årig: City ikke meget bedre end Esbjerg]</ref>
His contract was prolonged in January 2013, where he officially was moved up into the Esbjerg first team squad.<ref>[http://www.bold.dk/nyt/Esbjerg-forlaenger-med-midtbanetalent Esbjerg forlænger med midtbanetalent]</ref> Later in the season, he made his professional debut on 12 May 2013 in a 2–0 win against Copenhagen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kobenhaven 0–2 Esbjerg|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2013/05/12/denmark/superliga/fc-kobenhavn/esbjerg-fb/1289602/|work=Soccerbase|accessdate=22 July 2013}}</ref>
===Odense=== In January 2017, Nielsen signed with Danish Superliga team Odense BK on a {{frac|3|1|2}}-year contract.<ref>{{cite web|title=OB henter endnu en spiller i Esbjerg|url=http://sport.tv2.dk/fodbold/2017-01-18-ob-henter-endnu-en-spiller-i-esbjerg|work=sport.tv2.dk|accessdate=28 April 2017}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ob.dk/artikel/casper-nielsen-klar-for-ob.aspx Casper Nielsen klar for OB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007115913/http://www.ob.dk/artikel/casper-nielsen-klar-for-ob.aspx |date=7 October 2017 }}‚ ob.dk, 18 January 2017</ref>
===Union SG=== On 4 July 2019, Nielsen joined Belgian club Union SG.<ref>[https://www.ob.dk/nyhedsarkiv/casper-nielsen-solgt-til-belgisk-klub/ Casper Nielsen solgt til belgisk klub], ob.dkd, 4 July 2019</ref>
===Club Brugge=== On 17 July 2022, Club Brugge announced that they had reached an agreement to transfer Nielsen from Union SG. Nielsen signed a four-year contract to keep him with Club through 2026.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clubbrugge.be/en/news/club-brugge-land-casper-nielsen|title=Club Brugge land Casper Nielsen|website=clubbrugge.be|date=17 July 2022|access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref> He scored his first goal for Club on 14 August 2022, the winner in a 3–0 victory over OH Leuven.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clubbrugge.be/en/news/club-wins-0-3-oh-leuven|title=Club wins 0-3 at OH Leuven|website=clubbrugge.be|date=14 August 2022|access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref>
===Standard Liège=== On 2 July 2025, Nielsen signed a three-year contract with Standard Liège.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Standard Liège|url=https://standard.be/fr/news/bienvenue-casper|title=Cap sur Sclessin pour Casper Nielsen|trans-title=Casper Nielsen heads to Sclessin|date=2 July 2025|access-date=19 August 2025|language=fr}}</ref>
==International career== He was called up to the senior Denmark squad for friendly matches against the Netherlands and Serbia on 26 and 29 March 2022, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.archynewsy.com/unionist-casper-nielsen-finally-selected-with-denmark/ |title=Unionist Casper Nielsen finally selected with Denmark! |publisher=archynewsy.com |date=22 March 2022|access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {{Updated|match played 4 May 2025}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sofascore.com/player/casper-nielsen/247471|title=Casper Nielsen|website=SofaScore|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="6"|Esbjerg |2012–13 |rowspan="5"|Danish Superliga |1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||2||0 |- |2013–14 |15||1||1||0||3{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}||0||colspan="2"|—||19||1 |- |2014–15 |26||1||1||0||4{{efn|name=UEL}}||1||colspan="2"|—||31||2 |- |2015–16 |31||0||4||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||35||0 |- |2016–17 |17||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||17||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !90!!2!!7!!0!!7!!1!!0!!0!!104!!3 |- |rowspan="4"|OB |2016–17 |rowspan="3"|Danish Superliga |13||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||14||1 |- |2017–18 |31||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||32||1 |- |2018–19 |29||3||3||2||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||32||5 |- !colspan="2"|Total !73!!5!!5!!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!78!!7 |- |rowspan="4"|Union SG |2019–20 |rowspan="2"|Challenger Pro League |26||7||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||28||7 |- |2020–21 |27||4||3||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||30||5 |- |2021–22 |Belgian Pro League |39||7||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||41||7 |- !colspan="2"|Total !92!!18!!7!!1!!0!!0!!0!!0!!99!!19 |- |rowspan="4"|Club Brugge |2022–23 |Belgian Pro League |36||9||2||0||8{{efn|name=UCL|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}}||0||colspan="2"|—||46||9 |- |2023–24 |Belgian Pro League |31||2||4||0||13{{efn|name=UECL|Appearances in UEFA Conference League}}||1||colspan="2"|—||48||3 |- |2024–25 |Belgian Pro League |14||0||4||1||6{{efn|name=UCL}}||1||1{{efn|Appearance in Belgian Super Cup}}||0||25||2 |- !colspan="2"|Total !81!!11!!10!!0!!27!!2!!1!!0!!119!!14 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !336!!36!!29!!3!!34!!3!!1!!0!!400!!42 |} {{notelist}}
==Honours== '''Club Brugge''' * Belgian Pro League: 2023–24 * Belgian Cup: 2024–25
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://www.clubbrugge.be/en/teams/a-kern/players/casper-nielsen Casper Nielsen] at the Club Brugge KN website * {{DBU player|6771}} * {{UEFA player}} * {{Soccerbase}} * {{Soccerway|casper-nielsen/254435}}
{{Standard Liège squad}} {{Denmark men's football squad 2016 Summer Olympics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Casper}} Category:1994 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Esbjerg Category:Danish men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Category:Denmark men's youth international footballers Category:Danish Superliga players Category:Belgian Pro League players Category:Challenger Pro League players Category:Esbjerg fB players Category:Odense Boldklub players Category:Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players Category:Club Brugge KV players Category:Standard Liège players Category:Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic footballers for Denmark Category:Danish expatriate men's footballers Category:Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Category:21st-century Danish sportsmen