Jacob Ondrejka Joins FC Groningen on Loan

Jacob Ondrejka is on the move again. The Swedish midfielder has joined FC Groningen on loan from Parma, looking to reboot a career that once promised far more goals than it has delivered in Italy.

The 23-year-old is aiming to be registered in time for Groningen’s second Eredivisie match of the season, at home to newly promoted ADO Den Haag on Sunday. If the paperwork drops in time, he could be thrown straight into the Dutch top flight – in a country he knows well, but a league he does not.

Ondrejka has already sampled football in the Low Countries, just not on this side of the border. After coming through in Sweden with Landskrona BoIS, he earned a move to Elfsborg in 2020 and quickly grew into an attacking threat. Across 110 games for the club, he hit 20 goals, form that pushed him onto the radar of bigger European sides.

Antwerp made their move in the summer of 2023. In Belgium, Ondrejka found a rhythm. He played 55 times for the Great Old in a season and a half, scoring 12 goals and laying on seven assists. By the middle of his second campaign, his return stood at seven goals and five assists in 26 matches – enough to tempt Parma into taking him to Serie A.

The step up looked promising at first. To close out that season in Italy, Ondrejka featured 12 times for Parma and scored five goals, a sharp contribution that hinted at a seamless adaptation. Then the momentum stalled.

Last season he managed only 17 appearances for Parma. No goals. No assists. For a player tied to the club until 2029, the dip has arrived early in a long contract.

That is where Groningen come in. The Dutch side are betting that regular minutes and a familiar northern European environment can unlock the version of Ondrejka that lit up Antwerp. If he rediscovers that form in green and white, both club and player stand to gain – and Parma may yet get back the attacking midfielder they thought they had signed.