Christian Gytkjær

Christian Lund Gytkjær (born 6 May 1990) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Venezia.

Early life
Christian Gytkjær started his youth career playing for Roskilde, before moving on to Lyngby in 2005. In October 2007, he was invited for a trial at Liverpool in England with his brother, Frederik, ultimately nothing materialized from the visit. Gytkjær went on to be Lyngby's top scorer in 2007–08 for the under-18 side.

Lyngby Boldklub
Gytkjær was called up to the Lyngby first team in the middle of 2008, signing a new contract keeping him at the club until 2010. He scored three goals in eight appearances in his debut season in the 1st Division. By the 2009–10 campaign, Gytkjær had become one of Lyngby's most anticipated talents to come through their youth system.

On 2 February 2010, it was confirmed Gytkjær would leave Lyngby when his contract expired in the summer to join Danish Cup winners Nordsjælland on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract, following in the footsteps of Andreas Bjelland, Andreas Laudrup and Morten Nordstrand, who had left Lyngby for the Farum-based club. While his future had been set, Gytkjær was still to play out the remainder of the 2009–10 season with Lyngby, where he was targeted by the supporters who disapproved in seeing another player their team had nurtured head over to neighboring rivals. The backlash was only increased when the player was photographed with an FCN shirt while still under contract to Lyngby.

Nordsjælland
Gytkjær made his debut for Nordsjælland in a 2–0 away defeat to Superliga champions Copenhagen on 14 August 2010, when he was brought into the team to replace Nicki Bille Nielsen, who was sold to Villarreal. In 2012, he was loaned out to Akademisk Boldklub and Sandnes Ulf.

Haugesund
On 23 January 2013, Gytkjær joined Norwegian side Haugesund by signing a four-year contract.

Rosenborg
On 6 January 2016, Gytkjær signed for fellow Norwegian club Rosenborg on a three-year deal. In his debut season, he achieved the domestic double, and became the league's top scorer with 19 goals.

1860 Munich
On 27 January 2017, Gytkjær joined German club 1860 Munich by signing a contract until 2019.

Lech Poznań
On 28 June 2017, he signed a two-year contract with Ekstraklasa side Lech Poznań, with the option for an extra 12 months.

He made his debut for the club during the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round away game against FK Haugesund, which Lech lost 3–2. He scored his first (and second) goal for Lech in a 5–1 home win over Piast Gliwice in the third round of the 2017–18 season.

On 7 March 2019, he signed a contract extension, running until the end of the 2019–20 season.

On 19 July 2020, during his last game for Lech, he scored twice in a 4–0 home win against Jagiellonia Białystok and led the team to secure second place in the 2019–20 season. He finished the campaign as top scorer with 24 goals. He also won Forward of the Season award. During the three years at Lech Poznań, he played in 119 games and scored 65 goals, which made him the best foreign goalscorer in club's history.

Monza
On 22 July 2020, Gytkjær joined newly promoted Italian Serie B side Monza on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the option of a third. He made his debut on 3 October against Empoli, and scored his first goal on 31 October, converting a penalty kick against Cittadella. He renewed his expiring contract in February 2022 for one year.

With five goals in four 2021–22 Serie B promotion play-off games – including three goals in two final games against Pisa – Gytkjær helped Monza gain promotion to the Serie A for the first time in their history, and was awarded the play-off MVP award. He made his Serie A debut on 13 August 2022, as a substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to Torino. On 18 September, Gytkjær came on as a substitute and scored in an upset 1–0 win against Italian giants Juventus; it was Monza's first-ever Serie A win.

Venezia
On 20 July 2023, Gytkjær joined Italian side Venezia as a free agent for two seasons. On 2 June 2024, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Cremonese in the promotion playoffs final, securing his club's promotion to Serie A.

International career
Gytkjær was part of the Denmark under-17 team that won the 2006 Nordic Championship in the Faroe Islands. He scored three goals in a 4–0 win over England in the final.

Personal life
Gytkjær's younger brother, Frederik, also is a footballer.

International

 * Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gytkjær goal.

Honours
Nordsjælland
 * Danish Cup: 2010–11

Rosenborg
 * Tippeligaen: 2016
 * Norwegian Cup: 2016

Venezia
 * Serie B Promotion play-offs: 2023–24

Denmark U17
 * Nordic Championship: 2006

Individual
 * Tippeligaen top scorer: 2016
 * Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2019–20
 * Tippeligaen Striker of the Year: 2016
 * Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2019–20
 * Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: March 2018, July 2020
 * Serie B play-offs MVP: 2021–22