Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (transliterated as Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen; born 15 September 1978) is ðurGuðan Icelandic professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. Eiður saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, where he won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga with the latter and the League Cup and Premiership twice with the former. Along with two spells at Bolton Wanderers fourteen years apart, he also played in Iceland, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Belgium, China, Norway and India in a club career lasting 23 years. He is regarded by many to be the greatest Icelandic footballer of all time.
Eiður is the son of Arnór Guðjohnsen, who was also an Icelandic international footballer. He made his full international debut for Iceland as a substitute for his father in 1996, scoring 26 international goals in 88 caps between 1996 and 2016. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until Ólafur Jóhannesson took over the role of manager. He was part of their squad that reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016, their first major tournament.
Club career
Early career
After spending the 1994 season with Valur in Reykjavík, Eiður played for PSV in the Netherlands from 1995, playing alongside Ronaldo. Following a serious ankle injury, he returned home to play for KR Reykjavík.
Bolton Wanderers
Eiður signed with English club Bolton Wanderers in 1998. He made his debut in September 1998 in a match against Birmingham City. By March the following year, Eiður had become a regular member of the Bolton first team, and the following season, he scored 21 times in all competitions as the Trotters reached the Division One play-offs and the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Chelsea
On 19 June 2000, Eiður was signed by Premier League club Chelsea for a fee of £4.5 million. He was the second striker signed by the Blues that pre-season, after Dutch international Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Eiður made his debut on 13 August in the 2000 FA Charity Shield at Wembley Stadium, replacing Gianfranco Zola for the final 17 minutes of a 2–0 win over Manchester United. He spent most of his first season in London being used as a substitute, but was still able to score 13 times. In his second season, he formed a partnership with Hasselbaink which provided 52 goals for Chelsea in all competitions.
Following the appointment of José Mourinho as manager, Eiður eventually played in a more withdrawn role as he helped the club win two successive Premier League titles. On 23 October 2004, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Blackburn Rovers.
Barcelona
On 14 June 2006, Eiður was signed by La Liga club Barcelona in an £8 million transfer on a four-year contract, as a replacement for Henrik Larsson.
He made his debut on 20 August in the second leg of the 2006 Supercopa de España, as a half-time substitute in a 3–0 win at the Camp Nou against RCD Espanyol (4–0 aggregate). Eight days later in his league debut away to Celta de Vigo, he replaced Ludovic Giuly with 16 minutes remaining and scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory.
He was part of the Treble-winning side in 2008–09 as Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.
Monaco and return to England
Eiður joined Ligue 1 club Monaco, on 31 August 2009, signing a two-year deal for a £1.8 million fee.
On 28 January 2010, Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp confirmed that Eiður had joined the club on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, despite undergoing a medical at West Ham United. The striker was offered identical deals by both clubs; however, Eiður opted to join Spurs. On 31 August 2010, Eiður signed for Stoke City on a one-year deal and made his debut for Stoke on 18 September in a 1–1 draw against West Ham. After only making five substitute appearances for Stoke, Eiður left on the final day of the January transfer window to join Fulham on loan. On 31 January 2011, Eiður signed on loan to Fulham until the end of the 2010–11 season. After an unsuccessful time at Stoke, he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season.
AEK Athens
On 19 July 2011, Eiður signed a two-year deal with Greek club AEK Athens, keeping him at the club until 2013, despite further interest from English club West Ham as well as Welsh side Swansea City. He was greeted by over 2,500 AEK fans at Athens International Airport.