Martin Laursen

His first team was the Danish club Silkeborg IF, who, in his second season, he helped steer to a second place finish in the league in 1997/98. He moved in August 1998 to then Serie B outfit Hellas Verona, but was plagued with a knee injury for the majority of the season. During his time at this squad, however, he played his first game for Denmark, a friendly match against Portugal in March 2000.

Searching for a move to Parma, a high-profile transfer attempt for 8.7 million pounds was unsuccessful, but he managed to then transfer to A.C. Milan. Though achieving silverware with A.C. in 2003, he failed to appear in the Champions League final.

Due to the presence of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, Laursen failed to establish himself in A.C.'s first team, and on May 21, 2004, he moved into Premiership football with Aston Villa F.C., who he joined for three million pounds, signing a four-year contract. He made his Aston Villa debut against Southampton on August 14, 2004, a match which ended 2-0 in Aston Villa's favour.

For Denmark, Laursen has been capped over 40 times, and was on his country's roster at Euro 2000, and played at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.