# Niklas Hult

Bo Niklas Hult (born 13 February 1990) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left back for IF Elfsborg. Beginning his career with IFK Värnamo in 2008, he went on to represent IF Elfsborg, Nice, Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, and Hannover 96 before returning to Swedish football in 2022. A full international since 2012, he has won eight caps for the Sweden national team.

## Club career
### Nice

In May 2014 Niklas Hult was signed by OGC Nice for a fee around €1 million, the French Ligue 1 club as they looked to strengthen for the 2014–15 season. He was described as a midfield workhorse with attacking and defensive qualities.

### Panathinaikos

On 30 June 2016, he signed a three-years contract with Greek Super League club Panathinaikos for a transfer fee of €300,000. His contract, which ran until 2019, was worth €250,000 per year.
During the summer of 2017, the Swedish international rejected a suggestion from Standard Liège, and at the same time he filed an appeal claiming his late payment from Panathinaikos. Later in the summer, the player's side claimed that the international left-back could leave as free from the club, either for Konyaspor or Standard Liège that was once again interested in his acquisition. Hult had no trouble withdrawing his appeal as long as he had a raise in his annual salary and extending his contract for another year. The greens put all the odds down, and as they figured that the player was one of the best player in the roster, on 21 July 2017, took the decision to table a new proposal for co-operation and increase his annual earnings by more than €100,000 while expanding his contract by 2020, that make the player's side to respond positively. Unfortunately during the 2017–18 season the financial problems of the club remained unresolved with Hult reportedly looking his next step in his career.
On 30 January 2018, after his first appeal, Hult took again legal actions against Panathinaikos because of the money the Greens owe to him. He had not received his December's fee and in order to ensure his money decided to sue financially struggling greens. Nevertheless, between two sides there are negotiations in order to find a mutual solution and Panathinaikos receive money from his possible transfer in January's window.

### AEK Athens

On 31 January 2018, Hult signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with rivals AEK Athens for an estimated amount of €200,000. In the 2019–20 season Hult competed in 18 matches for AEK across all competitions, with the 30-year-old Swedish having previously won the Super League two years ago after transferring from Panathinaikos in January 2018. On 30 June 2020, he mutually solved his contract with the club.

### Hannover 96

On 28 August 2020, Hult signed a two-year contract with German club Hannover 96.

### Return to Sweden

After his contract with Hannover expired, Hult signed a three-year contract with IF Elfsborg, where he had previously played from 2009 to 2014.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 15 July 2022
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| IF Elfsborg | 2009 | Allsvenskan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2010 | Allsvenskan | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2011 | Allsvenskan | 28 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 7 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2012 | Allsvenskan | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 30 | 4 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2013 | Allsvenskan | 17 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 28 | 7 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2014 | Allsvenskan | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | — | 17 | 1 |
| IF Elfsborg | Total | Total | 92 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 20 |
| Nice | 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| Nice | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Nice | Total | Total | 45 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 2 |
| Panathinaikos | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 30 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 0 |
| Panathinaikos | 2017–18 | Super League Greece | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 |
| Panathinaikos | Total | Total | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 57 | 0 |
| AEK Athens | 2017–18 | Super League Greece | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 |
| AEK Athens | 2018–19 | Super League Greece | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 0 |
| AEK Athens | 2019–20 | Super League Greece | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 |
| AEK Athens | Total | Total | 44 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | — | 67 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 | 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 2 |
| Hannover 96 | 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 27 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Hannover 96 | Total | Total | 57 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 62 | 3 |
| IF Elfsborg | 2022 | Allsvenskan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 280 | 16 | 33 | 4 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 353 | 25 |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Sweden | 2012 | 2 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2013 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2016 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2017 | 2 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 8 | 0 |

## Honours

IF Elfsborg
* Allsvenskan: 2012
AEK Athens
* Super League: 2017–18