He arrives at City with a swathe of experience in both men’s and women’s football across youth and senior level, which has seen him take up roles in his homeland, China and Switzerland.
Below are some key aspects of his life that have helped shape the person he is today, his outlook on the beautiful game and how his path led to Manchester…
FUELING THE FIRE
The 51-year-old enjoyed a slightly less conventional route into professional football.
Born in Greenland with a serious back condition, doctors advised against him playing the sport at all during his youth.
However, Nielsen defied the odds and played at a high youth level until an unfortunate injury to his vertebra forced him to stop playing and instead turn his attentions to coaching.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Nielsen said: “I love the game. Of course, if I could’ve played, I would have. But when I was not a youth player anymore it was too difficult.
“Very early on when I stopped playing, I was 19 or 20, I decided to go the coaching way.
“Even before, I took all the coaching diplomas I could when I was very young.”
COACHING CAREER
As Nielsen mentions, he left the football pitch for the dugout at an early age.
During his university years, he coached youth teams in Copenhagen before overseeing U15 and U16 age groups for the Danish Football Federation.
He even received special dispensation from the Danish FA to undertake the UEFA A Licence – one of the highest coaching courses in world football – when he was just 20-years-old.
“I spoke the language of the players because, in the beginning, I was 20 and I was coaching 17-year-olds in the best league in Denmark. It was a lot of fun,” Nielsen explains.
“I could relate to them because I was not that much older and when I was growing up, I was the sort of person who would speak my mind. I was always captain, anyway, so they’d always listen to me.
“I didn’t really see it as pressure, I saw it as something I enjoyed doing. I’ve been working in football for so long, I’ve never really had something I consider a work day where you’re so miserable when you come home.”
EDUCATION
A degree in Sports Physiology also played an important role in enriching Nielsen’s understanding of data in sport and its influence in improving both individual players and teams.
However, our new Director of Football qualified that statistics form just one part of his overall footballing philosophy.
He explained: “[Studying Sport Physiology] benefitted me because before it became a big thing we were doing a lot of research and using data to back up the things we were doing and the decisions we made.
“I knew data alone cannot do it for you. You still have to trust the feelings you have inside, trust yourself in making the correct decisions.
“[But] If you can back it up with something concrete it’s much easier also to develop the players because it is there black and white. It doesn’t lie. Numbers don’t lie, but they can be interpreted in many different ways.
“So, the whole scientific beginning I had was very helpful I would say, but I think also because I knew it was not going to do it alone.”
EURO 2017
One of Nielsen’s greatest achievements saw him guide Denmark to the final of EURO 2017.
Qualifying for the knockout stages with a second placed finish in Group A, unlikely victories over then-holders Germany (last-eight) and Austria (semi-finals) followed.
A showdown with host nation, the Netherlands, beckoned, but despite a strong showing at the De Grolsch Veste, Enschede, Nielsen’s side fell to a 4-2 defeat.
However, the Danes, and Nielsen, had turned plenty of heads en route to their first and only appearance in a major final.
ACCOLADES
Following the conclusion of EURO 2017, Nielsen was the runner-up in the 2017 The Best FIFA Women’s coach award behind Sarina Wiegman.
Soon after, he became the assistant coach of China Under-20s before taking up the Switzerland Women head coach position.
He led the Swiss national team to EURO 2022 but, in a tough group consisting of the Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal, missed out on the knockout stages, finishing third in Group C.
