In a refreshingly honest catch-up with Jesper Lindstrøm, which first appeared in the Official Matchday Programme for the visit of Wolves, the attacker reveals what is fuelling his burning desire to succeed with the Blues, how he responded to a frustrating 45-minute performance, who he has become close friends with in the dressing room, as well as his humble beginnings in Denmark and why he always chooses to pick the positives…
Jesper Lindstrøm is a player who wears his heart on his sleeve.
The summer recruit – signed on an initial season-long loan from Napoli – has, he insists, always been a “happy guy, sometimes maybe too happy”. His mood around Finch Farm since arriving on Merseyside, as well as the smiley-faced tattoo on his arm, attests to that.
But the 24-year-old attacker, who values a quiet life outside of football and spends the majority of his free time walking his dog, Iko, a poodle and Havanese-cross, or gaming with childhood friends, isn’t immune to negative emotions.
After a meteoric rise in his early career, which included helping to end boyhood club Brøndby’s 16-year wait for the Danish Superliga title and later lifting the Europa League trophy with Eintracht Frankfurt, Lindstrøm has had to learn to harness more testing moments over the past 12 months or so.
Signed by then-reigning Serie A champions Napoli in the summer of 2023, the Italian side went on to endure a turbulent campaign, with Lindstrøm working under four separate managers and being handed just two starts and 416 minutes of action during his one term at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Joining Everton was the beginning of a new start for Lindstrøm, a dream move to the Premier League and a return to the direct style of football he craves.
There were enough bright signs in his first start for the Toffees – the Carabao Cup clash with Southampton – to earn him a maiden league start at Southampton four days later, and it looked as though momentum was building in his favour.
However, a disappointing performance during the 2-1 home victory over Crystal Palace the following weekend saw Lindstrøm replaced at half-time. It is a moment he looks back on in frustration, but also as a catalyst to demand more from himself.
“I messed it up against Palace,” admits Everton’s No.29, who selected his favourite shirt number as a nod to his birthday falling on the leap year date of 29 February. “I got frustrated, I had a bad half and got taken off. It was tough but you can’t let it keep you down.
“The guys [teammates] around me have been great. The leaders, like Seamus and Tarky, really helped and told me to keep fighting, keep training good, because I have the confidence and I have the level, I just have to keep going.
“We have a strong group, honestly. There are different characters, like Ili [Ndiaye] – who I am close to – with the way he plays and how positive he is, and everyone brings their own thing.
“The team ethic is really strong. You showed it last year. You had the points deduction and all of that going on in the background, everyone outside was talking, ‘How many points are they going to take?’, ‘Are they going to go down?’, but everyone pulled together and came through it. That’s not easy. You have to have a very good team, a very good base, a very good environment – not just players but also the staff, also the admin – everyone around the Club.
“Nothing has really taken me by surprise [at Everton], because I knew about the passion of the fans, the size of the Club, the history and the good players who are here.
“We had a tough start again this year but I feel like we’ve regrouped and we can push on from where we are.”
Manager Sean Dyche isn’t the first to highlight the stark differences of Premier League football compared to other top leagues on the continent.
A step up in physicality and intensity, perhaps, but Lindstrøm has been in a similar predicament before.
“In Denmark, growing up, I had some difficult years because everybody around me was growing and I was just staying the same height – I was the small one,” he explains. “So I had to focus a lot on my technique, of course, because if it wasn’t exactly right, someone could just take the ball off me or push me away.
“When I was under-15s, I started to think if this was even for me any more because I started to not play as much. I was down because I was desperate to play more but I was encouraged by my family to keep going and the coaches at Brøndby were saying by under-19s I would be hitting a high level.
“Then, when I was around 18, it happened. I started growing, I was playing every game and scoring goals and moved straight up to the first team to make my professional debut.
“When I played in Frankfurt I already played against some teams from the Premier League – West Ham, Tottenham – because we played Champions League and Europa League. I also watched the Premier League a lot on television, so I had an idea of what to expect.
“The things you don’t see on television are the small tricks people are doing, like stepping on your toes and pulling your shirt and stuff like that, so that was a bit of a surprise for me, but, not the level of it.
“Everybody [in the Premier League] plays fast and the pitches are all perfect, which helps as well. There is space to attack and that suits the kind of player I am, because I have speed and I can use the spaces.
“Most Premier League games are like bam, bam, bam… it’s non-stop. Everyone wants to attack and be dangerous. That’s how I like it.”
Lindstrøm’s love for football was inevitable, given it had been running in the family for generations.
His grandfather played at a high level in Denmark before his time in the game was curtailed prematurely by injury. Similarly, his older brother also showed signs of reaching the top before he was hurt before being able to play professionally.
Lindstrøm’s journey began at the age of three. Later, he was drawn to graceful Brazilian attackers such as Kakà and Neymar but says he has always been keen to forge his own unique style, rather than obsessing over other players.
“It’s always been about football in our family,” he insists. “Whether that’s supporting a team – Brøndby – or playing it, the passion for football has always been massive.
“Fortunately, I was the one who got through the levels and now play in the best league in the world.”
In the age of point scoring on social media, it was inevitable Lindstrøm’s links with Everton’s city rivals, Liverpool, would come to the fore upon his arrival at Goodison Park.
“My older brother supported Liverpool so that’s where it came from,” he says. “It’s easy for me to go on the same train, if you can say that, but I also have another brother who’s a Chelsea fan and another brother who’s a West Ham fan. You know, it’s probably because the Premier League is so good.
“Beyond all that, Brøndby was our actual team. We all supported them, which made playing for them and being able to win the league with them so special for us all.
“Now I’m an Everton player and I love it here. I love the guys, I love the training, I love the facilities, I love the fans. I’m very happy here and, of course, I do everything I can to show that I’m a part of it and to show that I give everything, every day.”
The welcome and love received from Evertonains is fuelling that already burning desire to deliver on the pitch.
“I come from a family that is very humble – they don’t like when you have an attitude and certainly not thinking you’re better than anybody else,” says the 16-capped Denmark international. “I feel like my values fit Everton’s values well.
“I also know that you have to earn your respect, earn your trust. The way to do that is by my performances on the pitch. Of course, I give as much time as I can to fans outside Finch Farm and whenever I see them but I want to show them that I will fight for the team, and I want to show them that I have the level.
“I’ve had some good games and should have scored once or twice but I keep working hard in training every day to show I’m ready to contribute. I’m ready for it.”
