Bruun Larsen: "It was difficult to leave Dortmund"

The 21-year-old Dane opens up about why he left Dortmund, how he's settling into life at TSG and the single most important thing in his life: family.

bundesliga.com: After five years at Borussia Dortmund, you moved to TSG Hoffenheim. What are the reasons for the move?

Jacob Bruun Larsen: "For me, personally, it was the right time. It was a tough decision, but I was ready mentally. I spoke with the club in Dortmund, told them how I felt and we analysed the situation and came to the conclusion that it would be good for me to try another place, get some more experience and playing time and my job was to find the right club for me. Of course, it’s not an easy decision and not just me who can decide it, but everything went good and I’m glad I took this decision. I’m happy to be here and that it could happen. Everything just fit and I talked to my Danish colleague Robert [Skov] and it was just good."

bundesliga.com: Did the fact that your fellow Dane was already there play a role?

Bruun Larsen: "It makes some stuff more easy, he’s been here for six months and knows how it is, so the first part of coming into the team is easy, but the rest of the team, the staff and the coaches are all really nice. We’re talking a lot every day and trying to know how things are here at Hoffenheim and I think we’re doing ok, we could do better, but we could also do worse."

bundesliga.com: You're both wingers. Could we be seeing a new dream duo of Danish Dynamite at Hoffenheim?

Bruun Larsen: "Me and Robert know each other from way back. He always played on the right wing and me on the left and now he plays more left back, so I hope we can play on the left side together. I also hope he gets the chance to play on the right in offence so we can play offence together."

bundesliga.com: What are your first impressions of Hoffenheim: the club, the surroundings and the playing style? What are your personal goals with the club and what do you dream of achieving in your career?

Bruun Larsen: "It’s been really good, really nice. Everyone is very down to earth, you feel that the supporters around the club and the owners are like that. I’m comfortable here, they made me very comfortable quickly, so it’s very, very nice to be here."

bundesliga.com: What are your mid-term and long-term dreams with the club and as a player?

Bruun Larsen: "It’s a difficult question to answer. We always talk about dreams and goals. Of course, personally, my goal is to develop as a player and help the team, try to get as much playing time as possible and help the team with goals and assists, that’s my main goal as an offensive player. For the team, it’s for us to keep developing, even though we’re in a slightly difficult position, but I’m sure we have the quality and potential to take the next step. Where we are at the end of the season is something we can talk about then, but now we are where we are and we keep working every day and moving forward."

bundesliga.com: You moved from Denmark to Germany aged 16. How is life for you in Germany?

Bruun Larsen: "When you move at 16, the whole thing is new, but now I’ve been here five years and everything is very comfortable, my family, my girlfriend as well. For me, I’ve spent 25 per cent of my life in Germany, so it’s like my home."

bundesliga.com: What have you taken from the academy system of a Bundesliga club, in terms of learning and development?

Bruun Larsen: "Of course, it’s a huge part of me. I was there five years and I have so many people there. I grew up as a player there, they trusted me, I believed in them and I only have good things to say about the youth to the first team, it was a wonderful journey. It was emotional to leave, but it was the correct time."

bundesliga.com: What does it mean to you to have been German champion three times across U17 and U19 level with Borussia Dortmund?

Bruun Larsen: "That’s correct. You just come here to Germany and get the feeling how important it is at U17 and U19s, so you get the feeling of how important the league is and it’s great to experience. Of course, there are nice memories, I met a lot of good people in the youth team, some of whom I still have contact with. It was really good with the youth and I always look back at it with a huge smile."

bundesliga.com: What do you do in your spare time?

Bruun Larsen: "Right now, me and my girlfriend are living in a hotel, but we already organised a place to live and now we’re waiting to move in, that’s mainly the things we’re struggling with now, the practical stuff. It can be a bit stressful when you move in January."

bundesliga.com: Any preferences in terms of fashion? There are photos of you as a model.

Bruun Larsen: "No no, I’m just helping some friends of mine to sell some clothes. It’s not important, there are so many other things in life which are way more important, so it’s a thing I look at and like to wear, but it’s not my focus."

Watch: Relive Bruun Larsen's stunning Goal of the Month from September 2018

bundesliga.com: Do you have any ideal travel spots?

Bruun Larsen: "Denmark every time. Home. Copenhagen is a beautiful city. I left young and you know that you say goodbye to a lot of things and when you’re there you want to be a part of it and try to get the things you said goodbye to."

bundesliga.com: The toughest and most beautiful moments of your life?

Bruun Larsen: "Definitely my sister being healthy and well, that’s the most crazy emotional journey, for my family as well, that she is healthy now and that’s the most important thing for me. She was sick for a total of nearly two years with cancer and she beat it twice. I don’t know how to describe it, I don’t think it can be described, but it was very tough for me and my parents. And if it was tough for us, it can only be 100 times tougher for her. She’s so cool and it’s amazing what she can go through, I couldn’t do it and that I really admire. But now, like I said, she is healthy and we are happy and that’s what our focus is on.

When your beloved ones are not doing well, it is scary but you also feel that life can go fast. We always tried to focus on the good things, the small steps in the right direction, there was no reason to think negatively in this situation, it is how it is and you can just look forward and positively at things and I think that’s a main rule for everything in life and she achieved one of the hardest parts of life."

bundesliga.com: Are you a family person?

Bruun Larsen: "Family is the most important. They will always support you and you will always support them. I’m so fortunate that I have a sister, two younger brothers and a mum and dad, and of course a lot of other family members. Family is home, it’s where you belong and will always feel at home and I don’t think you can say anything else."

bundesliga.com: How is the harmony between you and two much younger brothers?

Bruun Larsen: "It’s nice. I couldn’t be there so much while they’re growing up, but when I do it’s with a big smile. I try to see them as much as I can and they try to come here as much as they can, but it’s nice. Before it was just me and my sister and now it’s the two younger and my sister and it’s a big family now but I’m very happy and I enjoy every moment with them."

bundesliga.com: How did you discover your passion for football?

Bruun Larsen: "We started to play in the garden, me and my dad and then I was sent to a club where I started to train. It was fun at the beginning and you make some friends, friends who I am still friends with today. I played with three of my closest friends when I was six and we still see each other whenever we have the opportunity. When it started it was all fun, but when I was 13 or 14, I was told I could be good at this and from then I moved to Germany and the rest happened as it happened."

bundesliga.com: Who was your childhood hero?

Bruun Larsen: "When I was very young, it was a Werder Bremen player, Johan Micoud, we lived in Bremen as a family when I was four or five and they were doing well. I didn’t know much about football then, but I just knew he was the best. When you get older, you try to watch everyone in the world, there was a lot of players I watch and I enjoyed good offensive players, so I wouldn’t say this guy is the reason. Yeah, my family were there for one year because of my dad’s work."