Lincoln City have signed Danish forward, Mikkel Ladefoged from Vasteras SK for a club-record £4.3m transfer fee.
Ladefoged’s arrival at Sincil Bank comes after 18 months at Sweden’s Vasteras where he has scored 19 goals and created two assists in 27 appearances across all competitions, during which he helped them achieve promotion from Superettan to Allsvenskan at the end of his first season in 2025.
This season has seen him register nine goals and two assists in 14 appearances with a number of impressive performances, which has led the Imps to break their previous club-record transfer to sign the 23-year-old for a £4.3m fee, as he signed a five-year contract until June 2031.
“I’m really glad to be here – the role the head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw set out for me in the team is really exciting.
“It’s a dream to play in England and I feel ready to take the next step in my football career.
“There are a lot of games and it’s a hard league, but I think Lincoln fits my style of play. I know there are going to be plenty of tough games, but I’m really looking forward to playing in the Championship.
“I always want to score goals. That’s my main priority. I’m a target man, but I wouldn’t say I’m only a target man. I can run in behind as well and I’m good with my feet, so I’m a little bit of a mix.”
Ladefoged was also in attendance at the Imps’ 3-1 loss to Portsmouth on 22 August and was impressed at the atmosphere which has motivated him for his debut which will be at home to Blackburn on 1 September.
“I really liked the experience. The fans were really good and there was a great atmosphere. For me, it just gives me even more excitement to get out there and play in front of them.
“They can help us a lot this season. I’m really looking forward to playing in front of them and hopefully helping the team by scoring some goals and giving everything on the pitch.”
Imps’ Sporting Director, Jez George added that the difference in summer and winter leagues complicated the transfer process, and led them to wait until now to complete the move.
“This is a transfer that was extremely difficult to execute in this transfer window but one that we pushed really hard to secure. We respect that with the Swedish Allsvenskan being a summer league, we are now halfway through their season, so that creates an obvious complication to negotiate a transfer for anyone as important to a team as Mikkel was to Vasteras.
“Even though the condition of the transfer was that it couldn’t be completed until the end of the window, Mikkel is such a unique profile that we were willing to wait.”
George also addressed public conversations about the move as he praised Ladefoged for his handling of the situation beyond his control.
“Despite a lot that has been said publicly, we have kept our counsel, and we will continue to do so. All we will say though is that Mikkel is a top character, who has handled a very challenging situation extremely well, and he has continually shown a huge desire to sign for Lincoln City initially ahead of clubs in the Eredivisie and Bundesliga and then, at the end of the process, other Championship clubs.”
Ladefoged began his career at Næsby Boldklub where he graduated through their academy into the first-team squad in early 2022, but failed to make a single appearance before Sønderjyske signed him in May that year and he went on to score three goals in 24 appearances at the latter club.
Whilst at Sønderjyske, he helped them gain promotion from Danish 1st Division to Danish Superliga at the end of the 203-24 season.
He however spent much of the 2023-24 season on loan at Næstved where he produced nine goals in 20 appearances, which was followed by a loan at Esbjerg fB the following season, across which he netted three goals in 14 appearances in a spell which was cut short when Vasteras signed him in January 2025.
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