# Mathias Ross

Mathias Ross Jensen (born 15 January 2001) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Czech club Sparta Prague, on loan from Galatasaray. He is the older brother of Oliver Ross.

## Club career
### AaB Fodbold

Growing up in the Hasseris district of Aalborg, Ross started his football career as a 10-year-old at Aalborg KFUM. At under-13 level he joined the AaB youth academy. In his first year as a U17 player, other centre-backs were preferred ahead of Ross, which meant that he mainly appeared on the reserve team or as a substitute striker in the final minutes. In his second U17 year, however, he became a regular player for the team in the U17 league. AaB U17 finished the 2017–18 season in third place in the league table, and in June 2018 he was named U17 Player of the Year in AaB.
Ross made his professional debut for the AaB first team on 2 September 2018, when he came on as a substitute after 27 minutes for an injured Jakob Blåbjerg in a 2–2 draw against Randers FC. At the time of the substitution, AaB were behind 2–1, and newspaper Tipsbladet described Ross' debut as "excellent". A month later, in October 2018, he was permanently promoted to AaB's first team squad. During the regular season he was used three times, but from the relegation round he established himself as a starter in the first team. AaB eventually qualified for the play-offs to participate in the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League, where they were, eliminated in the first round against AGF.
In January 2019, Ross signed a contract extension keeping him in AaB until 2023.

### Galatasaray

On 8 September 2022, Ross signed a four-year contract with Galatasaray. It was announced that a transfer fee of €1,750,000 would be paid to the player's former team, AaB.
Ross became the champion in the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season with Galatasaray. Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with two weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.

#### Loan to NEC Nijmegen

On 21 July 2023, Ross was loaned out to the Eredivisie club NEC for one season. Accordingly, NEC Nijmegen would pay a temporary transfer fee of €250,000 to Galatasaray.

#### Loan to Sparta Prague

On July 16, 2024, it was confirmed that Ross joined Sparta Prague, which had Ross' former AaB manager, Lars Friis, as manager, on a loan deal for the 2024-25 season, with a purchase option of around €1.2 million.

## International career

Ross made his international debut on 7 October 2017 as part of the Denmark under-17 team, when he was part of the starting lineup and played 90 minutes in a 3–4 defeat to Germany in a friendly match. He went from being a peripheral player under the auspices of the Danish Football Association (DBU) to being team captain in the last match during the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He made 11 appearances for the national under-17 team.
Ross made his first appearance for the Denmark under-19 team on 7 September 2018, and soon established himself as a starter.

## Career Statistics
### Club

    As of match played 31 August 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| AaB | 2018-19 | Danish Superliga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 |
| AaB | 2019-20 | Danish Superliga | 23 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 1 |
| AaB | 2020-21 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 2 |
| AaB | 2021-22 | Danish Superliga | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 2 |
| AaB | 2022-23 | Danish Superliga | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| AaB | Total | Total | 94 | 5 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 100 | 6 |
| Galatasaray (loan) | 2022-23 | Süper Lig | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 1 |
| NEC (loan) | 2023-24 | Eredivisie | 21 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 2 |
| Sparta Prague (loan) | 2024-25 | Czech First League | 5 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Career Total | Career Total | Career Total | 120 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 135 | 10 |
* ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

## Honours

Galatasaray
* Süper Lig: 2022–23