AFC Bournemouth
Philip Billing today became AFC Bournemouth’s third signing ahead of the start of the 2019/20 season, following Lloyd Kelly and Jack Stacey to Vitality Stadium.
The Danish midfielder, who turned 23 in June 2019, joined the Cherries for an undisclosed fee from Huddersfield Town.
Billing joined the academy ranks at Huddersfield in 2013 having impressed during a 10-day trial from Danish club Esbjerg.
He signed his first professional contract in October 2013 and helped the Terriers win titles at under-18 and under-21 level in his first season at the club.
Billing also starred as Huddersfield reached the quarter-final of the 2013/14 FA Youth Cup, eventually bowing out to a Moussa Dembele double in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham.
Aged 17, he capped a memorable first season in West Yorkshire by making his first-team debut as a 76th-minute substitute for Jonathan Hogg in a 2-0 defeat by Leicester in the Championship in April 2014.
Billing made his full debut for the Terriers in a 2-2 draw against Reading at the Madejski Stadium in November 2015 and scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest in February 2016.
He made 13 appearances in the Championship in 2015/16 and featured 24 times the following season as Huddersfield won promotion to the Premier League after beating Reading on penalties in the play-off final at Wembley. Billing’s goal had earned the Terriers a crucial 1-0 home win against the Royals in February 2017.
Billing made his Premier League debut in Huddersfield’s 3-0 win at Crystal Palace on the opening day of 2017/18 and featured 16 times as David Wagner’s team finished 16th in their first season back in the top flight following a 45-year absence.
He scored his first Premier League goal in a 1-1 draw at Everton in September 2018 and made 27 appearances in the top flight last season as the Terriers slipped back into the Championship.
During his time at the John Smith’s Stadium, Billing twice won the club’s Young Player of the Year award.
On the international stage, Billing received his first call-up to the Denmark full squad in March 2019 and was an unused substitute in European Championship qualifiers against Kosovo (2-2) and Switzerland (3-3).
His solitary cap for Denmark under-19s came as a substitute in a friendly against Norway in September 2014.
Billing made his debut for Denmark under-21s in a 3-0 win against Faroe Islands in a European Championship qualifier in August 2017 and scored his first international goal in a 1-1 draw against Poland in Aalborg in October 2018.
He started all three games at the 2019 European Under-21 Championship finals as Denmark finished just a point behind eventual group winners and tournament runners-up Germany.
In his first 10 games for Denmark under-21s, Billing finished up on the losing team just once – against Germany at the Euros in Udine in June 2019.
At 6ft 6ins, Billing was the tallest midfielder in the Premier League last season and the only outfield player taller than him was fellow Dane, Jan Vestergaard, the Southampton defender.
