Nicklas Bendtner shoves a pouch of snus tobacco beneath his higher lip and takes a swig of Carlsberg. ‘Folks right here drink IPA however I do not like fragrance in my beer!’ he says, bedded right into a quiet nook of Kødbyens Fiskebar in Copenhagen. He washes down a mouthful of buttery turbot earlier than canvassing opinion on who Gareth Southgate ought to choose for England on the Euros.
‘England have a f*****g implausible workforce,’ he says. ‘Unreal. Phil Foden’s bought to play, Jude Bellingham’s bought to play, Harry Kane’s bought to play, Declan Rice has bought to play and Bukayo Saka has bought to play. I like England’s probabilities this yr. Participant for participant, there is no higher workforce.’
Now 36, and residing again in his residence metropolis, he’s as patriotic as they arrive. ‘Denmark are very robust defensively however lack a bit offensively. We play in a 5-3-2 system and create outcomes from good defending. I feel we’ll undergo the group however the English workforce is on a distinct degree.’
Like most retired footballers, Bendtner might speak ways all afternoon. But Bendtner was by no means your common footballer; simply ask Arsene Wenger. Since taking early retirement in 2019, his hair has grown right down to his shoulders and he has bulked up with a number of kilos of muscle. He bench-presses 140kg on a very good day. Some Arsenal followers could not even recognise the Scandinavian striker who as soon as patrolled the six-yard field – in addition to London’s nightlife.
Most mornings he visits the spit-and-sawdust fitness center simply across the nook, sweat from his exercise dripping down his forehead as he tucks into lunch. ‘I’ve bought to work-out as a result of my physique begins falling aside if I do not do something,’ he explains, clutching at his proper knee. ‘Since my automotive crash, my physique by no means actually healed. It is was by no means actually the identical.’
Now 36 and residing in his residence metropolis, Nicklas Bendtner is as patriotic as they arrive – however nonetheless backs England for an ideal Euros marketing campaign
Some Arsenal followers won’t recognise him these days, along with his hair right down to his shoulders and extra muscle
Bendtner has undergone a unprecedented transformation since retiring from soccer in 2019
Virtually 15 years have handed since he spun off the London Colney exit of the A1 on his solution to Arsenal coaching, Andrea Bocelli blasting by way of his sound-system as his profession swerved off its pathway of immense potential. ‘Now I sleep on a mattress as onerous as this,’ he says, hitting the picket desk.
‘It was an Aston Martin DBS, gray, James Bond. F*****g nice automotive. So trendy. Nonetheless my favorite automotive. That was my finest interval at Arsenal, enjoying on the appropriate facet with Andrey Arshavin on the left, and Robin van Persie up entrance. I used to be enjoying each week and after the crash I used to be by no means actually the identical. Abruptly I could not go 5 video games at 100 per cent.’
He used to handle the ache with tablets – dosing up on 200mg tablets of Voltaren painkillers. Nowadays he goes wild swimming off the Danish coast to recuperate. ‘While you play with ache and begin popping drugs then it is a very slippery slope. I wanted them to play due to the ache. I took them repeatedly for about two years. The issue was that I could not prepare with out them. I learn up on the unwanted effects and all the pieces that occurred to me was all of the unwanted effects of taking them for too lengthy.
‘It affected my temper, it affected how I used to be as an individual. Ultimately I needed to come off it. I ought to by no means actually have began. They’re accessible in all places. You’ll be able to ask the physician for some, he’ll say “no” and you then get them anyway. If a participant is aware of he can take three or 4 of these drugs and play in a Champions League semi-final then that is what he is gonna do. I might have taken 10.
‘Soccer was my first, second and third factor. The one time I used to be free and felt particular was on the grass. You felt a part of one thing larger. That was my happiest second in my life, nothing else compares to it. The durations when you find yourself not within the workforce then you’re extra susceptible to make a foul determination…’
Bendtner’s profession is a narrative of residing life to its limits. A cautionary story of extra. But there aren’t any regrets; he seems to be again with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I am driving a Volvo right here… you possibly can’t velocity in that!’ He laughs about his errors – of which there have been a number of – and wraps up his wild anecdotes with a heat that you wouldn’t count on from the person within the headlines.
‘On the again seats of the Denmark bus, all of the older gamers would all the time discuss wine,’ he says, trying by way of the drinks menu. ‘I collected wine since I used to be 19. When the workforce met on Monday we might all convey one bottle and style it. We might have 4 glasses on the Monday evening and speak concerning the wine. I’ve bought one thing like 50 thousand bottles of wine now. You already know Romanée-Conti? £15,000 per bottle, £140,000 per case. You’ll purchase one case to promote and one to drink.
‘Once I was 24 I had spent mainly all I had however I had purchased wine, property, artwork. The money movement fully broke. I used to be left fairly alone with my cash. I had a number of assist within the membership however not a lot outdoors of the pitch. One of many stunning issues I really like about myself is that I wish to expertise various things. I’ll by no means say “No, I do not need to strive” – I might quite go and take a look at it. The cash goes quick whenever you purchase £150,000 wine.
He works out in a spit-and-sawdust fitness center, bench-presses 140kg, and may nonetheless speak ways all day
His profession is a narrative of residing life to its limits and there aren’t any regrets, only a twinkle within the eye
‘Once I was 24 I had spent mainly all I had however I had purchased wine, property, artwork. The money movement fully broke’
‘I might like to have had extra assist once I was heading down the flawed path however you reside your finest life. I wore a Robert Pires Arsenal shirt for my communion as a child; it was the one shirt I wished. I used to be residing a dream. While you’re younger you see the world so stunning and pure. Every part is so thrilling. It isn’t till you change into older that you just see the world in a distinct gentle. Now you are extra settled, you are comfortable, you are not in a rush.’
Here’s a man who has needed to be taught the onerous method. ‘I do not actually consider in regrets however I consider in being smarter on the time. Some issues you possibly can look again and say, “That was silly”. I had an overdue parking fantastic that ended up at 33 thousand kilos. I bought the ticket within the submit, by no means opened the submit and it was simply mendacity there. I bought a name saying, “Do you realise the bailiffs are going to return to your home and take your stuff if you happen to do not pay this?” I needed to pay it.’
His most extreme buy? ‘I purchased a Harley Davidson… after an evening out in Las Vegas. We did not want it. We simply drove it spherical a bit after which we gave it again to the store. I bought a few of my a refund.
‘I spent some huge cash on playing. When you could have that prime from soccer, it’s extremely onerous to search out it somewhere else. You go playing to get that feeling and you aren’t getting that except you could have rather a lot at stake. Blackjack, roulette… we performed all the pieces, You would be on the home, you get out a golf ball and put a cup 20 metres away for £1,000 each time you get it in.
‘You solely play soccer twice every week so that you search out that kick extra and it turns into like a rolling ball. In a while, I realised that it did not matter if I received or misplaced, on the finish it was only a kick. You don’t have any winners in playing on the finish of the day so I finished If I burn myself at one thing I am fairly good at retreating and saying ‘no extra’. At 24 I discovered sufficient so it was simple to take a step again.’
How concerning the story that he requested for shirt No 52 as a result of he was incomes £52,000 per week? ‘Could not be farther from the reality… I might have been sporting a better quantity!’ he says with a booming snigger. ‘Now gamers are getting paid about 400k every week… it is vital they’ve good recommendation and good individuals round them.’
Dancing near the darkish facet, hassle was by no means far-off. He tells a stunning story concerning the evening he was approached by a rogue punter about spot-fixing. Money for yellow playing cards. ‘I used to be within the on line casino rather a lot and I bought approached by a man in there. You’ll get approached by individuals who would say, “We’ll provide you with 100k if you happen to do that”. I misplaced my head once I bought requested about it.
‘I stated, “F*** off”. It simply takes all the pieces away from sport. The truth that anybody would method you with a proposition like that’s simply so respect-less, it is ridiculous. The worst factor now could be that you just get a number of gamers popping out and betting on their very own matches, it is simply so flawed. You simply depart it.’
‘I spent some huge cash on playing. When you could have that prime from soccer, it’s extremely onerous to search out it somewhere else’
He has needed to be taught some classes in life the onerous method and he tells Mail Sport of the excesses of his youthful life
Bendtner has generally struggling to search out which means after his profession, admitting that ‘soccer was my first, second and third factor’
In some ways, Bendtner is Denmark’s reply to David Beckham. He lived out his younger life within the public eye – incomes the nickname Lord after courting Danish royalty – and each mistake was lit up within the brightest of spotlights. Now, a number of years after his retirement, his individuals maintain him near their coronary heart. The autograph hunters are by no means far-off.
Regardless of the lavish spending, he has a wholesome checking account, which means he can choose and select his enterprise alternatives. His most up-to-date enterprise is a coach collaboration with Errant Official; a becoming transfer for the primary footballer to ever put on pink boots.
‘As a child we had no cash so I used to be sporting the identical shoe for 4 or 5 years till it was fully damaged. Due to that I began loving footwear. While you begin getting sponsorships, begin getting footwear free of charge then swiftly you get too many!
‘With out soccer, I miss my team-mates, being within the dressing room, strolling out onto the pitch, the banter, strolling out into the massive stadiums. You’ll be able to’t discover the adrenaline rush it gave you wherever. Belief me, I’ve seemed. I am nonetheless trying – and I’ll by no means get it. However I stay a implausible life in the mean time, I problem myself on a regular basis. I have been diving now for 3 years and I find it irresistible. My new factor is that throughout the subsequent two years I need to climb mount Everest.
‘Soccer is just part of your life, then you have to determine one thing else to do this makes you content. I travelled for a yr after I retired. I began to get fairly heavy. I used to be residing a pleasant life however it was unstructured and with out goal.
‘I lived an unhealthy way of life, getting all of it out. I used to be bored and I hate residing with out goal. I wanted one thing to get up to so I began coaching, collabs with the sneakers, a podcast, TV work…’
This summer time he can be based mostly in Copenhagen, working remotely as a pundit for Danish TV protection of the Euros. He speaks with searing honesty, his opinions are sharp and direct.
Mikel Arteta as Arsenal supervisor? ‘He was our captain and he was all the time going to be a supervisor. His way of life was very completely different to mine however we all the time had a mutual respect. He is taken Arsenal to a degree the place we are able to generally get too hopeful as a result of he is executed it that quick.
In some ways, Bendtner is Denmark’s reply to David Beckham. He earned the nickname ‘Lord’ after courting Danish royalty
Mikel Arteta? ‘His way of life was very completely different to mine however we all the time had a mutual respect.’ Bendtner feels he has elevated Arsenal to a brand new degree
‘Arsenal now is just not afraid of claiming, “Proper, we would like Declan Rice and we’ll purchase him for 100million”. He had a imaginative and prescient and he is been probably the greatest midfielders within the Premier League this season. I feel he is a yr or two forward of schedule and I feel they are going to be actually, actually robust.’
The one participant he’d wish to see his former membership signal? ‘A striker. The best way Julian Alvarez strikes and performs, I really feel like he is an Arsenal participant. I do not suppose he is accessible so possibly Victor Osimhen.’
How concerning the rising theatrics on the pitch? ‘I liked the outdated English method. In case you get kicked correct, you get kicked correct. In case you simply get just a little faucet then nobody acts on it. Lots of Danish gamers nonetheless have that old-fashioned English in them. I might desire that than the Spanish method.
‘Once I performed towards John Terry, it was elbows flying on a regular basis then on the finish of the match you shake fingers and all the pieces is ok. It is simply a part of the sport. Nobody was attempting to outdo the opposite with a dive. That was the battle and I miss that generally.’
He bathes in recollections of the outdated days. Nights out with Andy Carroll when he performed for Sunderland, journeys to look at the rugby with Aaron Ramsey, cigarettes at Juventus, the Paddy Energy briefs he retains in his drawer as a reminder of the day he was fined £80,000 for flattening his shorts at Euro 2012. Plates of seafood hold coming. Swordfish garnished with hazelnut, gooseberry and wildflowers. Brill with rhubarb and miso. Bread with seaweed butter.
‘They are saying an athlete dies twice and it is simply so true,’ he says, ending his lunch. ‘It is robust. There is a competitor inside you that it’s a must to put to sleep. It’s important to let that occur to maneuver on. It’s important to let that facet of you go and that is very troublesome when it is all you have ever identified.
‘Your entire life you have been this aggressive predator, realizing that shedding is just not an choice. Abruptly you progress out of that competitiveness that has pushed you 24-7, then you have to discover out what sort of man you need to be.
‘There’s many issues you have not tried, many issues you have not discovered, since you’ve lived on this bubble it’s good to re-experience issues. That may be very robust. It may well take individuals years to search out themselves.
He’d wish to see Arsenal signal Julian Alvarez, however would accept Victor Osimhen if he is not accessible
Reflecting on retirement, he claims: ‘They are saying an athlete dies twice and it is simply so true’
‘Folks change into alcoholics, individuals change into gamblers, since you’re chasing that prime that you just simply cannot get. As I stated earlier, the place I used to be fortunate was that I attempted {that a} 24. Placing the athlete to sleep, it was 4 years in the past for me now and I nonetheless have not 100 per cent bought it locked in.’
With regards to espresso, he orders two double espressos. One cup stacked upon the opposite. ‘I name it the double decker.’ In any case, he has bought to search out his kicks someplace, as of late.
