Kristensen Opens Up About Tough Ajax Time and Depression Struggles

Rasmus Kristensen, from Ajax to depression and back

Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen reveals struggles with depression and tough time at Ajax, almost quitting football after Leeds United.

Kristensen opens up about battling depression, ACL injury, and considering retirement after moving to Ajax at 20...

Rasmus Kristensen opens up about his struggles with depression and a tough time at Ajax, admitting he wasn't ready for the move.

The Danish international suffered a torn ACL in February, but is now ahead of schedule in his recovery, revealing on Eintracht Frankfurt's podcast that he considered retiring due to his struggles.

“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.”

Kristensen Opens Up About Battle with Depression After Leeds United Stint

During the summer of 2025, Kristensen revealed that he came close to quitting football due to depression after leaving 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 said that the sudden realisation that football might not have been for him hit him hard: “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 Stint 'A Mixed Bag' for Struggling Kristensen

Kristensen joined Ajax from FC Midtjylland for €5.5 million in January 2018, but his time in Amsterdam was tough, with the club's success under Erik ten Hag contrasting with his personal struggles.

“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 featured players like Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Dusan Tadic, and Hakim Ziyech.

Leidenschaft wiedergefunden in Frankfurt 🦅🔙

Rasmus Kristensen spricht über eine schwierige Phase im Profifußball – und wie Eintracht Frankfurt ihm neue Motivation gegeben hat. Dazu: Einblicke ins Vatersein und seine Comeback-Ziele.

🎙️ Zum Podcast: https://t.co/2VXQ9GP5Aj
📺… pic.twitter.com/Q9itoFUxvr

— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) March 29, 2026

“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.”

Kristensen moved to Ajax at 20, and he's admitted it might've been a bit too much, too soon.

“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.'”

Rasmus Kristensen celebrating Ajax’s KNVB Beker victory in 2019 | Orange Pictures, Orange Pics BV / Alamy / Profimedia

Kristensen joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, drawn by manager Jesse Marsch's style of play - a fit that worked well for him, and later led him to 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.”