Casper Widell

Casper Ludvig Widell (born 5 May 2003) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Excelsior and the Sweden under-21 national team. Club career Born in Landskrona, in the Swedish province of Scania, Widell started playing football as a child in the local club IK Wormo, together with his brother Melker (who later joined the youth sector of Malmö FF). Originally a striker in his childhood, he was later moved down to the midfield. In 2016, he was noticed by Helsingborgs IF scouts and later joined the club's academy, where he was told to adjust his playing position once more, thus becoming a centre-back. After featuring in the 2018 edition of the Gothia Cup with his team, Widell quickly rose through the youth ranks of Helsingborgs' academy: while being a regular for the U17 side, in 2019 he was selected for the U19 squad despite his younger age. At the start of 2020, following his impressive performances at academy level and injuries occurred to several members of the senior squad, Widell was invited by head coach Olof Mellberg to join training sessions with the first team, ending up featuring in the second half of a pre-season friendly against Danish side Lyngby BK. As the regular season of the Allsvenskan started, Mellberg decided to give Widell a spot in the first team, and the young centre-back made his professional debut on June 15, 2020 in the first game of the season, against Varbergs BoIS: he played the entirety of the match as his club eventually suffered a 0-3 home loss. During the season, he featured for Helsingborgs six more times, two of which as a starter. However, he was involved in his club's relegation at the end of the year, as they finished second to last in the league table.