Jonathan Ávila

Central Defender - Esbjerg
21 Nov 2027
Sunday
Process
67 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

10 matches without a win for Esbjerg

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Esbjerg are no longer polite ones.

Market

Peter Bjur hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Robby McCrorie

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

No place for Jonathan Ávila on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Esbjerg pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Match

Esbjerg share the spoils with Hobro

A 1-1 draw with Hobro leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Gustav Grubbe knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Esbjerg, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

Back issues
64 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Benjamin Hvidt asks to leave Esbjerg

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

7 matches without a win for Esbjerg

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Esbjerg are no longer polite ones.

Match

FC Copenhagen take the points off Esbjerg

Beaten 0-2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Jonathan Ávila gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Ramiro Giannone has seen enough of SJK

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Esbjerg, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

The Bozhidar Kraev talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Esbjerg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

62 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Esbjerg

Beaten 0-3 by SonderjyskE, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Peter Bjur asks to leave Esbjerg

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Kasper Kristensen says Esbjerg went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

5 matches without a win for Esbjerg

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Esbjerg are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Jonathan Ávila signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonathan Ávila commits to Esbjerg for another 2 years.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Esbjerg dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

54 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Esbjerg's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esbjerg has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Robby McCrorie

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Jonathan Foss says Esbjerg went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Antonio Álvarez hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Agustín Acosta signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Acosta commits to Esbjerg for another 4 years.

Squad

Jonathan Ávila gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

36 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gustav Grubbe hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Kasper Kristensen: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Esbjerg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Kaio

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

32 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gustav Grubbe hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Jonathan Ávila stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonathan Ávila and Esbjerg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Esbjerg and Agnaldo are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

In brief

25 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Esbjerg lose John Kolawole

23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

The Muamer Brajanac talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Esbjerg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Talks stall between Esbjerg and Agustín Acosta

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Bozhidar Kraev has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Bozhidar Kraev keeps the shirt for now, at Esbjerg's convenience rather than his own.

Squad

Anton Skipper asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

Esbjerg pick up Agustín Acosta for nothing

The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Agustín Acosta arrives at Esbjerg with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.

In brief

20 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Robby McCrorie keeps Esbjerg in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

6 matches without a win for Esbjerg

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Esbjerg are no longer polite ones.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Franco Morales

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

19 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Esbjerg sink to position 11

14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Gustav Grubbe asks to leave Esbjerg

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

5 matches without a win for Esbjerg

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Esbjerg are no longer polite ones.

Match

A bad afternoon for Esbjerg against Aalborg

1-3 to Aalborg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Nicolai Slotsager wants to come home

“I did not go to OB to sit and watch. I want to come back to Esbjerg and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.

Squad

Gustav Grubbe gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

10 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gustav Grubbe hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Esbjerg's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esbjerg has to find a result from somewhere.

Boardroom

Wages eat 162% of everything Esbjerg earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

Martin Sjølstad gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Honours even between Esbjerg and SonderjyskE

1-1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

Bozhidar Kraev is off the mark for Esbjerg

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

7 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Esbjerg sink to position 12

5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Anton Skipper asks to leave Esbjerg

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Muamer Brajanac

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Nicolai Slotsager wants to come home

“I did not go to OB to sit and watch. I want to come back to Esbjerg and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Match

Esbjerg draw a blank against AGF

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. AGF defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Squad

Somebody is after Jonathan Ávila’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Jonathan Ávila suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Esbjerg have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

4 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The cup run ends for Esbjerg

1-2 against Randers, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Match

No end in sight to Esbjerg's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esbjerg has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Hobro take the points off Esbjerg

Beaten 0-2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jonathan Ávila

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

John Kolawole finally opens his account

He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Esbjerg have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.

Squad

A first senior shirt for Nicolai Blicher

Every debut is a small story about the future: Nicolai Blicher, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.

Market

Patrick Tjørnelund placed on the list

Esbjerg have made Patrick Tjørnelund available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Market

The Gustav Grubbe talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Esbjerg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Somebody is after Muamer Brajanac’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Muamer Brajanac suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Esbjerg have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

3 Edition

The Esbjerg Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Esbjerg turn down Hobro for Muamer Brajanac

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Robby McCrorie gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

FC Nordsjaelland take the points off Esbjerg

Beaten 0-1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Experience through the door at Esbjerg

Gustavo Corti arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.

Market

Esbjerg bring in an old head

Kaio is 39 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

Market

Esbjerg bring in an old head

Jonathan Ávila is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

In brief