Roerslev joins Wolfsburg on loan | OneFootball

Defender Mads Roerslev has joined German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the 2024/25 season, subject to international clearance.

The Denmark international signed for Brentford B in August 2019 and broke into Thomas Frank’s first-team squad later that season. Roerslev was part of the side that beat Swansea City 2-0 in the 2020/21 Championship play-off final, producing a quality assist for the second goal by Emiliano Marcondes.

Roerslev has made 146 appearances for the Bees - a figure that includes 94 games in the Premier League - and scored two goals.

Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “Mads has done an absolutely fantastic job for us since he joined our B team. He is the perfect example of why we set up the B team in 2016 - we wanted to bring in talented young players who needed some development and a pathway to first-team football.

"When he’s had his chance, he has always made a positive impact on the team and contributed with some important goals and assists.

"Mads now has the chance to become a first-choice right-back at a very good club and hopefully cement his position in the Denmark national team.

"Wolfsburg will have the option to buy Mads in the summer, so we aren’t sure at this stage whether he will be back with us again for next season.

"But if the match against Crystal Palace was his final Brentford appearance, then he couldn’t have wished for a better result and performance.”

Roerslev started out at Copenhagen's Academy, making his senior debut in the Danish Cup in 2016. The full-back spent time on loan at Halmstads BK and then Vendsyssel FF in the following seasons, making a handful of appearances for both.

In August 2019, Roerslev joined Brentford B on a two-year contract. He featured for the first team that season, playing 10 games in his debut campaign and earning a new contract.

Officially promoted to the first-team squad that summer, Roerslev played back-up to Henrik Dalsgaard during Brentford's charge to the play-off final, which they lost 2-1 to Fulham.

The following season, a foot injury ruled Roerslev out for four months. But an injury to Dalsgaard towards the end of the campaign allowed him to claim a spot in the starting XI, a place he kept through to the victorious 2020/21 Championship play-off final.

With Brentford already one goal ahead at Wembley, Roerslev steamed forward and chipped a ball to the back post for Marcondes to arrive and steer the bouncing cross low past the keeper and into the net.

"To make the assist for the second goal was a feeling I’ll never forget - there’s nothing that compares,” Roerslev recalled.

"It was crazy. I remember FaceTiming my family on the pitch after the game. Everyone was so happy. It was one of the greatest days of my life.”

In his and the club’s first season in the Premier League, Roerslev played 26 times, scoring his first Premier League goal against Aston Villa to win the game 2-1.

The following season injuries to Aaron Hickey and Kristoffer Ajer saw Roerslev get another chance to impress in the Premier League. He played 20 games as the Bees finished ninth.

The full-back then played 34 games in the 2023/24 Premier League season, which was a career-high, and scored in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in March.

He has made a further 19 appearances in the top flight this term, as well as making his senior international debut for Denmark in November, marking his first cap with a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Serbia in the UEFA Nations League.