'I wasn't ready for such a move': Depression-hit Kristensen opens up about Ajax time
The 28-year-old defender Kristensen dealt with a torn ACL back in February, an injury that was supposed to keep him out for the rest of the season. Appearing on the Eintracht Vom Main podcast from Eintracht Frankfurt, he shared news that his rehabilitation is moving quicker than planned.
“Of course, I’d rather be fit, but that would probably also mean I’d be playing with a bandaged arm and wouldn’t have gone on holiday. It’s a bit of a mixed bag for me, but I’m taking the positives from it," Kristensen said.
“I’m doing really well. It’s not an easy injury, but today I’m ahead of schedule. That’s the most important thing. I still need to build things up a bit, a bit of walking, waiting, and so on, but I’ve been walking without crutches earlier than expected. That’s good.”
Football depression
In the summer of 2025, Kristensen opened up about nearly stepping away from football altogether, as he struggled with depression after his period at Leeds United.
“It was really bad. It was so bad that I actually wanted to give it all up," he said in the podcast.
“It’s hard to say, because there was a period of several years where things just got worse and worse and worse. And I actually thought that football and that world weren’t for me. And I’d actually made up my mind that it wasn’t for me. And I’d lost faith that I could enjoy professional football. Or find a club abroad, outside Denmark, where I’d feel at home.”
The Danish right-back explained how the sudden insight that football might not suit him struck deeply: “At some point, you realise it’s not quite what you imagined it would be.
"That hurts too, when you’ve worked your whole life for something or a dream or whatever. Precisely for that goal. And then you achieve it and you don’t feel that it’s right for you. Then you do, then I have the feeling that I’ve wasted a lot of time for nothing. But luckily, it wasn’t for nothing.”
Ajax time 'a mixed bag'
Kristensen's initial move abroad took him to Ajax from FC Midtjylland for €5.5 million in January 2018. The club had recently appointed Erik ten Hag as manager, and the next year brought one of Ajax's strongest campaigns ever. Even with the triumphs, Kristensen found life in Amsterdam challenging.
“It was a bit of a mixed bag. It was an important time for me. It was perhaps the best team I’ve played for in my career so far, the quality there was incredible during my time there," Kristensen said about the 2018/19 squad, which included stars like Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Dusan Tadic, and Hakim Ziyech.
"We won a double and were seconds away from the Champions League final in 2019. I learnt so much as a footballer. I wouldn’t be sitting here today at a club like Eintracht Frankfurt without having learnt at Ajax how to play football, how to handle physical contact, the technical and tactical aspects and things like that."
At just 20 years old when he joined Ajax, Kristensen conceded that the transition may not have been ideal for him personally or professionally.
"But I wasn’t perhaps ready for such a move, either as a footballer or as a person. I was at Midtjylland, where I grew up, and it was just right for me. Then I went to Amsterdam, another huge club with lots of fans, huge pressure, high expectations, and I wasn’t perhaps ready for that. But it was still a lovely time, and I miss the lads there and the time I spent there. But it was tough too. Back then, I told myself, ‘It’s normal when you’re young.'”
The Dane transferred to Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, joining under coach Jesse Marsch. Marsch's approach to the game played a key role in Kristensen's decision to head to Austria, and he later reunited with him at Leeds United.
“Yes, I’d say so. That’s why I went to Salzburg, because I was at Ajax, where things weren’t perhaps perfect for me. But I still learnt a lot there. And then I came up with the idea and made the decision that I needed to find another club where I could play a more 'block and play' role.”