At the age of 11, Duelund joined the AGF academy; the most renowned in the city.[3] He subsequently had offers from several other clubs, but at the age of 14 he chose to move to FC Midtjylland.[3]
Midtjylland
Duelund began his professional career with Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland. In 2013, he took part in a trial with Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven but ultimately remained with Midtjylland's youth team.[4] During his time with the U19 group, Duelund won the Top Goalscorer and Player of the Season awards as the side were crowned Danish champions.[5] In 2014, he was named by The Guardian as one of 40 best young talents in World Football.[6]
Following his form at youth level Duelund was promoted to the first-team, making his league debut in March 2015 against Hobro IK, coming on as a second-half substitute for Petter Andersson. By the end of his debut season he had helped the club to its first ever Superliga title.[7] As a result of his showings in 2015 Duelund won the DBU U19 talent of the year-award.[8]
In the year that followed he made a goalscoring debut in the Champions League against Lincoln Red Imps before later debuting in the Europa League against Napoli.[5] In 2016–17, he became the seventh youngest player ever to score 10 career league goals in the Superliga.[7]
In March 2018, Duelund made his 100th appearance for Midtjylland and marked the occasion with a goal in a 2–1 win over Silkeborg.[9] The club ultimately went on to reclaim the Superliga title, ending ahead of rivals Brøndby.[10]
Dynamo Kyiv
On 31 August 2018, Duelund signed a contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv.[11] He made his debut for the club on 16 September in a 1–1 away draw against Zorya Luhansk, coming on as a substitute in the 59th minute for Volodymyr Shepelyev.[12] In his third game, he scored his first goal for the club – the game-winner in a 1–0 away win over Arsenal Kyiv.[13][14]
However, he would only play sporadically. Within two months of his move, he suffered an ankle fracture which meant that he barely made any appearances for over a year and a half.[15][16] After recovering in February 2020, he mostly appeared as a substitute. During the 2020–21 season, Duelund made only four league appearances, of which one was in the starting lineup.[17] In November 2020, Duelund was one of multiple Dynamo players infected with SARS‑CoV‑2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]
NEC (loan)
On 22 June 2021, recently promoted Dutch Eredivisie club NEC Nijmegen announced that they had signed Duelund on a one-season loan from Dynamo Kyiv with an option to buy.[19][20] He made his debut on 14 August in a 5–0 loss to defending champions Ajax.[21]
On 5 August 2022, the loan was extended by another season.[22] He started the 2022–23 season in convincing fashion, scoring once and adding two assists on the second matchday in a 4–1 victory against FC Volendam.[23]
On 29 January 2023 NEC confirmed, that Duelund's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.[24]
AGF (loan)
Later on the same day which Duelund left NEC Nijmegen, Danish Superliga club AGF confirmed that Duelund had returned to the club, which he played for as a youth player, on a loan deal for the rest of the season.[25]
International career
In June 2017, Duelund was one of two 19-year-olds named in Denmark's squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland.[7] He featured twice at the tournament, including a start in a 3–0 loss to eventual champions Germany, before Denmark were eliminated during the group stages.[26] He got his debut for the Denmark League XI side in a friendly against Jordan on 15 January 2018, where he scored one goal in Denmark's 2–3 loss.[27]
