Kristian Hlynsson: The present and future of Icelandic football by Calum Scullion

Player bio:

Name: Kristian Nökkvi Hlynsson 

Age: 20 

Place of birth: Odense 

Nationality: Icelandic 

Height: 1.79M 

Position: Attacking midfielder 

Background: 

Icelandic football is at the start of a very promising generation of talented young players and over the next couple of years it will be interesting to see how they develop both personally and as a unit for the national team. Some of the talents in this crop of players include Hakon Valdimarsson, Isak Johannesson and Orri Oskarsson but my favourite of them all is someone that’s having a great breakout season in the Eridivise, Kristian Hlynsson. 

Hlynsson was born in Odense, Denmark on the 23rd of January 2004. He started his football career in the youth ranks at Þór Akureyri, he then moved to Breidablik and was there from 2011-2020, he made one appearance for the senior team in a 2-1 loss to KR Reykjavik at the age of 15. Hlynsson was attracting serious interest from teams around Europe and he moved to Ajax in 2020 and was involved in the U18 and Jong Ajax teams. 

Over the past couple of seasons Hlynsson had been doing really well in the Jong Ajax team that play in the dutch second divison, he made 80 appearances for them scoring 16 goals and providing 13 assists. He has broken through into the first team this season and he made his Eredivise debut for Ajax on the 19th of August 2023 in a 2-2 draw against Excelsior. 

It hasn’t been a good season for Ajax by their high standards but Hlynsson has been somewhat of a bright spot and he seems to have adapted to first team football pretty well. He has made 34 appearances for the first team so far this season scoring 7 goals, providing 3 assists and playing a total of 2,439 minutes. 

Playstyle:

Hlynsson is mainly a CAM but he will often drop into central midfield at times and he has even played out wide in a couple of games this season. On the ball he showed a good range of passing and played his role really well in the middle of the pitch. He played some great one touch passes and is able to move the ball quickly, he also showed a great ability to link up and combine with his teammates. 

Hlynsson is a really good link up player and he is always looking to play lots of good short passes and combinations in the midfield and attacking areas of the pitch, he keeps play flowing really well and can keep opponents guessing with where he is going to play the ball next. He also did show ability to break lines and make key forward passes and the thing I like about him is that even when he makes a mistake or a stray pass it doesn’t put him off or stop him from attempting these killer forward passes that can help create opportunities and ultimately win games. I was very impressed with his vision and skill to spot runs and potential passing options. He showed on a few occasions that he can get the team up the pitch very quickly and find these great forward passes in counter-attacking/breakaway situations. Hlynsson drifted wide at times and delivered some decent balls into the box from outside areas, he also put in good deliveries from corners and free kicks and showed that he can find teammates from dead ball situations. Some of his long range passes/balls over the top were inaccurate or easily intercepted but I think this is expected when a player is on the ball so much and is looking to take risks and create chances. 

The attacking midfielder showed glimpses of good dribbling ability, he made some great runs through the middle of the pitch and was able to drive forward into attacking areas and make things happen, this is something I would really like to see him develop and continue to do more often as I think it can become a real quality in his game. Hlynsson has also proven himself to be capable of finding the back of the net, at the time of writing he is the clubs 4th top goalscorer this season with 7 goals. He made some great late runs into the box and was able to get on the end of crosses and passes in these areas, he has scored a couple of goals from these situations this season and it seems to be something that he is really good at and that opponents struggle to defend. Also showed good coolness and composure and is able to score in 1v1 situations, another very good quality of his game and something that will only get better as he further adjusts to top level football. Hlynsson will also look to shoot and test the goalkeeper from distance if given the space, he has a pretty good shot and has scored one or two goals from these situations but it is something I think he can improve on in terms of picking the right moment to shoot from distance and assessing other options first. 

I was also impressed with some of Kristian Hlynsson’s off ball skills, particularly his ability to take up good attacking positions and make himself available. He dropped deep at times to show for the ball and get involved in play, he also showed his ability to play in tight, crowded areas and drift into pockets of space both in the midfield and in wide areas. He will also look to run into space behind and off the shoulder of defenders which allows him to drag defenders away and create space for his teammates. When the team was out of possession he showed a good willingness and desire to press and close opponents down in the midfield and attacking areas of the pitch, he also looked to track back and help out defensively when he could. 

Physically I was impressed with Hlynsson’s stamina and ability to get up and down the pitch and to be moving consistently throughout a game, he also showed good pace and acceleration and uses this well when pressing opponents or running into space. One of the few weaknesses in his game is his lack of strength and physicality, he struggled to keep the ball when up against rough, physical defenders and at times gave away possession cheaply. I felt he also went down too easily at times looking for fouls. 

The only other real thing I would like to see him improve is his directness and ability to capitalise on chances, I feel he can become more clinical in the final third and could still improve his decision making when it comes to that final pass, I noticed on a few occasions that he was wasteful and could have done better in some attacking situations but then again this is probably something that will improve as he develops and gets more experience in senior football. 

Career future/Overall evaluation:

There is no doubt that Kristian Hlynsson is a great talent with potential to play at the top, he is having a great first season for Ajax and seems to be getting better and better with every passing game. 

In terms of career future I think he is in the perfect place for his development over the next 2-3 years, they are one of the best clubs in Europe at developing and nurturing young players and I really think his career will flourish if he stays in the Eredivise for a few seasons and can become a key player for Ajax. He is definitely a fun player to watch and I’m very excited to see how good he is in a few years.