# Rasmus Thelander

Rasmus Thelander (born 9 July 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Danish Superliga club Lyngby.

## Club career
### AB

Thelander began his career as a senior footballer in 2010 for Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in Danish 1st Division, the second-tier league in Danish football.

### AaB

In the summer of 2012, Thelander signed a two-year contract with the Danish Superliga club AaB.
Thelander played his first season in AaB primarily as a substitute. In the 2013–14 season he made his Superliga breakthrough, as defender Lasse Nielsen left for the Dutch team NEC Nijmegen, thus leaving a spot open in the centre of defense. Afterwards, Thelander would play each league game through the rest of the season and help his club win the first Danish double.
Thelander scored two goals in the 4–2 victory over Copenhagen in the Danish cup final and won the Danish Cup Fighter of the Year (årets pokalfighter).

### Panathinaikos

Thelander signed a deal with the Greek team Panathinaikos on 2 July 2015. According to several Greek press sources he was offered a four-year contract having been recommended to Panathinaikos by René Henriksen, a former player with the club. Thelander had been courted in the previous season when he helped lead AaB win the double.
Αfter a pre-season injury, he made his debut against Levadiakos on 23 September 2015. On 3 October, during his third appearance with the club he scored his first goal in a 1–0 away win against Skoda Xanthi, with a header after a corner kick.
On 26 July 2017, Thelander was the fifth footballer (after Michael Essien, Stathis Tavlaridis, Jens Wemmer and Niklas Hult) in eight months to file an appeal against Panathinaikos for a delay in payments. In his appeal, he claimed an amount of €510,000 that covered the following year's contract as well. On 14 August, the committee of the Greek Football Federation's financial disputes gave him the amount of €450,000.

### FC Zürich

On 15 August 2017, Thelander signed a two-year contract with Swiss club FC Zürich. He won the 2017–18 Swiss Cup with Zürich.

### Vitesse

On 17 May 2018, it was announced that Thelander would join Dutch side Vitesse on a three-year deal in July 2018. On 26 July, he made his first appearance for Vitesse, starting in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League qualification round against Viitorul Constanța. On 23 August, news broke that Thelander had broken his ankle, keeping him off the field for some months. However, due to a quick recovery, he made his comeback in the first team on 3 November in a 1–0 loss against PSV Eindhoven. He made just 13 appearances in his sole season in Arnhem.

### Return to AaB

On 22 August 2019, Thelander returned to AaB on a three-year contract.

### Ferencváros

On 23 May 2022, Thelander joined Hungarian club Ferencvárosi TC. On 18 November, Ferencváros terminated Thelander's contract due to family reasons.

### Third spell with AaB

On 18 November 2022, immediately after ending his contract with Ferencváros, Thelander signed with AaB on a four-year deal. On 1 September 2024, it was confirmed that Thelander had his contract at AaB terminated.

### Silkeborg

On the same day that he had his contract with AaB terminated, 1 September 2024, it was confirmed that Thelander had signed with fellow Danish Superliga club Silkeborg until the end of the year. On 15 September, Thelander made his debut for the club in a 1–1 away draw against AGF in the Superliga. On 18 December, after nine appearances in the league and three in the Danish Cup, Silkeborg announced that Thelander's contract would not be extended and he would be released by the club.

### Lyngby

On 3 February 2025, on transfer deadline day, Danish Superliga side Lyngby announced the signing of Thelander on a deal until June 2026. On 9 March, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 away win against Silkeborg in the Superliga.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 16 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| AB | 2009–10 | Danish 1st Division | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 |
| AB | 2010–11 | Danish 1st Division | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 1 |
| AB | 2011–12 | Danish 1st Division | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 2 |
| AB | Total | Total | 41 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 43 | 3 |
| AaB | 2012–13 | Danish Superliga | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| AaB | 2013–14 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 3 |
| AaB | 2014–15 | Danish Superliga | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 0 |
| AaB | Total | Total | 53 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 0 | — | — | 75 | 4 |
| Panathinaikos | 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 |
| Panathinaikos | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 |
| Panathinaikos | Total | Total | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Zürich | 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 22 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| Vitesse | 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| AaB | 2019–20 | Danish Superliga | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 2 |
| AaB | 2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 1 |
| AaB | 2021–22 | Danish Superliga | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 29 | 3 |
| AaB | Total | Total | 74 | 5 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 81 | 6 |
| Ferencvárosi | 2022–23 | NB I | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 |
| AaB | 2022–23 | Danish Superliga | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 15 | 0 |
| AaB | 2023–24 | Danish 1st Division | 28 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 5 |
| AaB | 2024–25 | Danish Superliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| AaB | Total | Total | 40 | 5 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 46 | 5 |
| Silkeborg | 2024–25 | Danish Superliga | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 0 |
| Lyngby | 2024–25 | Danish Superliga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 280 | 17 | 37 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 337 | 21 |
* 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

## Honours

AaB
* Danish Superliga: 2013–14
* Danish Cup: 2014
FC Zürich
* Swiss Cup: 2017–18
Individual
* Danish Cup Fighter of the Year (årets pokalfighter): 2014