Anis Ben Slimane is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brøndby IF. Born in Denmark, Slimane represents both Denmark and Tunisia internationally. Slimane had a tumultuous youth career, playing for eight different clubs in 12 years, but finally settled at AB where he made his senior debut in 2018. The following season, he departed for Brøndby IF and was included in the U19-squad, but he would garner break-out attention in the second half of the 2019–20 season as he established himself as part of the first team. Slimane has dual citizenship and made appearances for both Denmark U19 and Tunisia U20.
Career
Early career
Slimane was born in Copenhagen and lived in the Vesterbro neighbourhood during his youth. He started playing for the lower levels of Nørrebro club BK Vestia at age 7, which was the club located most closely to his home. After a few months he moved to the KB academy due to his classmate playing there; a team his classmate's father also coached. Later, Slimane and his classmate signed with the FA 2000 academy, where they were joined by some other talented players. Because some clubs were hesitant to create first teams and second teams, Slimane moved to different clubs in Copenhagen, who were willing to commit to youth football at a higher level. The following year, him and his classmate moved to Herfølge Boldklub, where they were for a short period, before moving first to B.93, where they reunited with the group of talented youth players from FA 2000. During his time at B.93, Slimane played in a UEFA European Club Championship tournament, where he impressed and therefore signed with the Brøndby IF academy. Slimane was 12 years old when he moved to Brøndby. He played for their academy teams for one and a half year before moving back to play for KB at under-13 level because of excessive travelling time to Brøndby after him and his family had moved to Høje Gladsaxe. Slimane's second stint at KB was, however, unsuccessful, and he therefore began to play for Lyngby Boldklub. He played in Lyngby's youth for six months before being signed by local club Akademisk Boldklub at under-14 level, where he once again reunited with his old classmates. Slimane stayed at AB for four years, ending his journeyman youth career. There, he played for four years, breaking into the first-team during his final time at the club. In an interview with the Brøndby IF website, Slimane described how he was among Denmark's greatest youth football prospects during his first years of playing, but that different circumstances meant that he had to fight for his breakthrough into professional football. During this period, he was close to retiring from football but his family and friend's support helped him through the difficult periods. During one summer, where he played in AB's youth academy, he experienced a large growth spurt in which he grew 15 cm, which enabled him to become more dominant physically and helped him develop as a player. In January 2018, Slimane left on a one-week trial with German Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. He made his first-team debut for AB on 7 April 2018 in a 2-1 home win over IF Lyseng, coming on as a 80th-minute substitute for Nichlas Rode. Slimane made a total of 18 league appearances for AB in which he scored two goals.
Brøndby
Slimane joined Brøndby IF at under-19 level in June 2019, after he had impressed for the AB first-team in the Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football pyramid. In January 2020, he was selected to participate in Brøndby's first-team training camp in Portugal, where he made his first appearance for the senior side in a pre-season friendly against Swedish side IFK Norrköping, impressing in front of scouts from Arsenal and Manchester United. On 16 February 2020, Slimane made his professional debut in an away match against OB in the Danish Superliga as a starter, which Brøndby won 2-0. The following week, he made his first assist, a cross into the box which Samuel Mráz slotted home in a 2-3 loss to AaB. On 8 March 2020, he scored his first goal for Brøndby in a 2-2 draw away against FC Nordsjælland; a match played behind closed doors at Right to Dream Park due to guidelines implemented by Danish authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the match, Slimane expressed his regret in not being able to celebrate his goal in front of fans. On 3 July 2020, Slimane signed a new contract with Brøndby, keeping him at the club until 2024.
