Per Billeskov Krøldrup (Danish pronunciation:[pʰeɐ̯ˈkʁœlˀdʁɔp]; born 31 July 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Born in Farsø, Krøldrup started his footballing career at Danish lower league clubs Farsø/Ullits IK and Aalborg Chang. He then went on to play for Copenhagen-based B.93 in the second-tier Danish 1st Division before transferring to Udinese in the Italian top-flight Serie A championship in 2001. In his final season at the club, they finished fourth and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.[3]
Everton
In June 2005, Krøldrup moved from Udinese to English club Everton on a four-year deal for a transfer fee of £5million.[4] Before having played a single game for the club, he suffered a groin injury and had to undergo surgery.[4] He made his debut for Everton on 26 December 2005[5] in a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa, which was to be his only league game for the club.[6]
His Everton career was later described as one of the worst transfers in the history of the club and English football,[7][8] and Krøldrup has stated his difficulties of adapting to the physical aspects of the English game.[9]
Fiorentina
Krøldrup transferred back to Italy on 19 January 2006, when he joined ACF Fiorentina, 31 days after his Everton debut.
Following the 2006 Serie A scandal, where several clubs were on trial for match fixing, Fiorentina were initially relegated to Serie B in July 2006. Krøldrup was amongst the players wanting to leave. However, as Fiorentina made an appeal to the Italian Football Federation, the club remained in Serie A and most of their players, including Krøldrup, remained with the Florence club. He made his Champions League debut on 12 August 2008 against Slavia Prague, a 2–0 win for La Viola.
Krøldrup's contract with Fiorentina was set to expire in June 2010, but on 17 May 2010 he signed a new deal that expired in 2012.[10]
After a Summer as a free agent, he signed for Olhanense of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on 1 October 2013.[12]
International career
At Udinese, Krøldrup played alongside Danish national team player Martin Jørgensen, who claimed that Krøldrup was ready for the Danish national team in March 2002.[13] Krøldrup was not called up for the national team until February 2004, making his debut against Turkey.[14] He was a part of the Danish squad for the 2004 European Championship, though he did not play any games at the tournament.[14]
