Jacob Ondrejka Joins FC Groningen on Loan from Parma
Jacob Ondrejka will spend the season back in familiar territory. The Swedish midfielder has joined FC Groningen on loan from Parma, a move designed to jolt his career back into the rhythm it once had in the Low Countries.
Groningen are pushing to have the 23-year-old registered in time for Sunday’s second Eredivisie match of the campaign, at home to newly promoted ADO Den Haag. If the paperwork clears, he could be thrown straight into the squad. It would be a quick return to Benelux football for a player who made his name just across the border.
Ondrejka first left Sweden in 2023 when he joined Antwerp, but his story starts much earlier. Raised in his homeland, he broke through at Landskrona BoIS before earning a move to Elfsborg in 2020. There, he grew into a key attacking threat: 110 games, 20 goals, steady progress season after season.
That form caught Antwerp’s eye. The Belgian side brought him in during the summer of 2023, and he adapted quickly to a higher level and a more demanding environment. Across a season and a half with the Great Old, he featured 55 times, scoring 12 goals and laying on seven assists. By the midway point of his second campaign, he had seven goals and five assists in 26 outings. Those numbers opened a door that is hard to ignore: Serie A.
Parma stepped in, signing him on a long-term deal running until 2029. He arrived in Italy in form and finished that first half-season strongly, scoring five goals in 12 appearances. It looked like a launchpad.
Then the momentum stalled. Last season, Ondrejka managed only 17 games for Parma and could not add a single goal or assist. The spark that had lit up Antwerp dimmed, even if the club’s faith in his long-term potential remained intact.
That is where Groningen come in. The Dutch side offer minutes, responsibility and a league that has often suited creative, attack-minded midfielders. For Ondrejka, it is a chance to reconnect with the version of himself that dominated in Belgium. For Groningen, it is a calculated bet that a player who once shifted games in Antwerp’s colours can do the same in green and white.
He arrives with his prime years still ahead of him, a substantial contract in Italy, and something to prove. Now the question is simple: can a season in Groningen unlock the Parma player Antwerp thought they were selling?
