# Morten Hjulmand

Morten Blom Due Hjulmand (Danish pronunciation:; born 25 June 1999) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Denmark national team.
Hjulmand joined Admira Wacker's youth system from Copenhagen in May 2018 and made his first-team debut in July. In January 2021, he moved to Serie B side Lecce, helping win the 2021–22 Serie B title, and achieve to promotion from the same division to Serie A. Sporting CP signed him in August 2023 and he helped them win the 2023–24 Primeira Liga title.
Hjulmand has also represented Denmark at various youth levels, before making his senior international debut in September 2023, and he was selected for UEFA Euro 2024.

## Club career
### Admira Wacker

Born in Kastrup, Denmark, Hjulmand progressed through the academy at Copenhagen, he moved to Austria on 13 May 2018 to join Admira Wacker's U-19 squad, signing a contract until June 2022. Hjulmand had never played any official games for Copenhagen's first team, but had been on training camps with them
He made his first team debut on 20 July 2018, in the 1–0 loss against Neusiedl in the Austrian Cup. Six days later, he also made his debut in the UEFA Europa League, starting in the 3–0 loss to CSKA Sofia, being replaced at half-time by Daniel Toth. On 29 July, he made his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga, coming on as a substitute to Daniel Toth in the 78th minute, in the 3–0 loss to Rapid Wien. In his first year with the Austrian club, he established himself as a starter, playing 32 games in total.
The following season, on 19 October 2019, he scored his first goal for the club's first team, in a 4–1 league win away to Altach. After two and a half seasons, he made 68 appearances, with this goal being the only goal he scored for the club.

### Lecce

Having started the 2020–21 season with Admira, on 16 January 2021, Hjulmand signed a four-year contract with Italian club Lecce for a fee of €170,000, in the second-tier Serie B at the time. He made his debut with the Giallorossi eight days later, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the league match, which ended in a 2–2 home draw against Empoli.
Having quickly established himself as one of the pillars of the team, he established himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie B, helping them reach the promotion play-offs semi-finals, where they failed to gain promotion to Serie A at the end of the 2020–21 season. In the 2021–22 season, Hjulmand accumulated the most minutes in the 2021–22 Serie B season, with Lecce being crowned Serie B champions, and gaining promotion to Serie A for the 2022–23 season, as a result, Lecce returned to the top flight after two years of absence.
The following season, Hjulmand was made Lecce's new captain, replacing Fabio Lucioni, who had recently left the club. In the process, he became the youngest club captain in Serie A history, aged 23. He made his top flight debut on 13 August 2022, in a 2–1 loss to Inter Milan. Under manager Marco Baroni, Hjulmand was entrusted an important role in the team's midfield, with his dynamism, vision, personality, technical and temperamental qualities, placing him among the top players in Serie A for average kilometres covered per match (over 10) and also led the league for the most balls recovered. At the end of the season, Lecce narrowly escaped relegation, with Hjulmand being a crucial figure in that feat.

### Sporting CP

On 13 August 2023, Hjulmand signed a five-year contract with Primeira Liga club Sporting CP for a fee of €18 million, which could rise to €21 million with add-ons. His release clause was set at €80 million.
Five days later, Hjulmand made his debut for Sporting, coming off the bench to replace Marcus Edwards on the 75th minute of a 2–1 league victory away at Casa Pia. He made his first start for the Lions on 27 August, in a 1–0 home win over Famalicão, being replaced by Daniel Bragança on the 84th minute. On 17 September, Hjulmand scored his first goal for Sporting, the opener in a 3–0 league victory over Moreirense at Estádio José Alvalade.
Over the following months, Hjulmand effectively replaced Manuel Ugarte, while providing leadership to his team, appearancing in more advanced areas for long-distance shoots, leading his manager Ruben Amorim to deem him more complete player in his position than Ugarte and João Palhinha, who had recently left the club.
On 5 May, Sporting mathematically secured their 20th Primeira Liga title, following Benfica's defeat to Famalicão, and for his performances he was included in the league's Best XI.
On 7 July 2024, he was named as Sebastian Coates's replacement as club captain, after he left the club. In his first match as club captain, on 3 August, Sporting lost 4–3 to rivals Porto in the 2024 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, despite leading the game by three goals.

## International career

Hjulmand was called up to the senior Denmark squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches on 16 and 19 June 2023 against Northern Ireland and Slovenia, respectively. On 7 September 2023, Hjulmand made his debut for the senior team, coming off the bench in a 4–0 win over San Marino.
On 20 June 2024, he scored his first international goal; an equaliser against England at Euro 2024.

## Personal life

Morten Hjulmand is not related to former Denmark national team manager Kasper Hjulmand.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 15 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Admira Wacker | 2018–19 | Austrian Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 |
| Admira Wacker | 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Admira Wacker | 2020–21 | Austrian Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 |
| Admira Wacker | Total | Total | 68 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 74 | 1 |
| Lecce | 2020–21 | Serie B | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Lecce | 2021–22 | Serie B | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | 0 |
| Lecce | 2022–23 | Serie A | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | 0 |
| Lecce | Total | Total | 91 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 95 | 0 |
| Sporting CP | 2023–24 | Primeira Liga | 30 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 49 | 4 |
| Sporting CP | 2024–25 | Primeira Liga | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| Sporting CP | Total | Total | 52 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 87 | 7 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 210 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 255 | 8 |
* ↑ Includes Austrian Cup, Coppa Italia, Taça de Portugal
* ↑ Includes Taça da Liga
* 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in Serie B promotion play-offs
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

### International

    As of match played 18 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Denmark | 2023 | 3 | 0 |
| Denmark | 2024 | 12 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 15 | 1 |
    As of match played 18 November 2024
    Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hjulmand goal.
List of international goals scored by Morten Hjulmand :
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 20 June 2024 | Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany | 9 | England | 1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 |

## Honours

Lecce
* Serie B: 2021–22
Sporting CP
* Primeira Liga: 2023–24
Individual
* Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2023–24