Emil Riis Jakobsen

Emil Riis Jakobsen (born 24 June 1998) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for English EFL Championship club Preston North End and the Denmark national under-21 team.

Club Career

Early years

Riis joined the youth academy of Randers at the age of 14. He went on to become the top-scorer of the under-17 team by scoring 24 goals in the youth league. After two trials, he joined the youth team of English club Derby County in July 2015. After joining the club, he was assigned to the under-18 team. He further progressed on to play for the under-23 team and scored 11 goals as his side gained the Premier League 2 Division 1 status.

In December 2017, Riis trialled with Dutch club VVV-Venlo. On 11 January 2018, he joined the club on a loan deal till the end of the season. He made his debut on 17 March 2018, where he came on as a 68th minute substitute for Romeo Castelen in a 0–3 away loss to PSV. He made two more appearances in the Eredivisie during the spring.

Randers

On 13 June 2018, it was announced that Riis would return to Randers FC, where he signed a three-year contract. In the 2018–19 season, his first season in the top Danish Superliga, he played regularly, but was not always a starter. During the season, Riis also made appearances for the reserve team. After 19 appearances for the first team, in which he scored three goals, Randers finished in eighth place of the league table during the regular season, and thereby qualified for Group 2 in the relegation round, in which the club made play-offs for European football as group winners. Riis was utilised in all matches and scored the 1–0 winner in a game against Hobro IK. In the play-offs, Randers reached the third and decisive qualifying round, where they eventually lost 4–2 to Brondby who qualified for UEFA Europa League participation.

In the 2019–20 season, Riis was able to establish himself in the starting lineup. In the regular season, he scored 5 goals in 29 a