Niki Dige Zimling (born 19 April 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer and current coach, who is currently the manager of AC Horsens.
He was named 2006 Danish under-21 Talent of the Year, and played 24 games for the Denmark national team between 2008 and 2013.
Career Brøndby IF Born in Tårnby, Denmark, Zimling started his football career at AB 70 when he was four years old. Zimling then joined Tårnby Boldklub, Fremad Amager and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before he moved on to join the youth team of Brøndby.
Zimling then progressed through the club's youth system and contributed well for the team, scoring on a regular basis. It was well paid off when he offered a full time contract with Brøndby in July 2002. A month later, Zimling signed his first professional contract with the club and in doing so, he was promoted to the reserve squad. In January 2003, Zimling was promoted to Brøndby's first team squad for the first time. Shortly after, he extended his contract with the club, keeping him until 2005. On 27 April 2003 Zimling made his Brøndby debut, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win against Aalborg BK in a Danish Superliga game. This turns out to be his only appearance of the season.
Ahead of the 2003–04 season, it was expected that Zimling would make a first team breakthrough at Brøndby. He then made his European debut, coming on as a second-half substitute, against Dinamo Minsk in UEFA Cup Qualification Round, as Brøndby won 2–0 to advance to the next round. On 17 September 2003 Zimling scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–1 draw against Aalborg BK. In a match against FC Midtjylland on 1 November 2003, he set up one of the goals for Brøndby, as the club won 2–0. Zimling played both legs in the UEFA Cup second round against Schalke 04, as Brøndby won on penalties to advance to the next round. Since the start of the 2003–04 season, he found his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench at the club. However, Zimling was plagued with injuries that saw him out for the rest of the 2003–04 season. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he went on to make seventeen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2004–05 season, it was expected that Zimling would make a first team breakthrough at Brøndby. He made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute, in a 0–0 draw against FK Ventspils in the first leg of the UEFA Cup second round qualification. In the return leg, however, the club were eliminated from the tournament through away goal after drawing 1–1 at home. Throughout the 2004–05 season, Zimling's first team opportunities was limited and his playing time mostly came from the substitute bench. Despite this, his contributions for the Brøndby led to the club winning the Double, both the league and Danish Cup. At the end of the 2004–05 season, he went on to make four appearances in all competitions. By the time Zimling departed from Brøndby, he played a total of 25 matches for the club and scored a single goal.
Esbjerg fB With his contract expiring at the end of the 2004–05 season, Zimling chose to leave Brøndby to Superliga rivals Esbjerg fB on 18 August 2005, signing a three–year contract with the club.br> Esbjerg fB was interested in signing him a month before the move was made official.
He made his debut for Esbjerg fB, starting a match and played 76 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–0 loss against FC Nordsjælland on 28 August 2005. Since joining the club, Zimling quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position. On 27 November 2005 he scored his first goal for Esbjerg fB, in a 1–1 draw against AC Horsens. After serving a one match suspension in April, Zimling scored on his return from suspension, in a 2–1 loss against Copenhagen on 9 April 2006. This was followed up by scoring his third goal of the season, in a 4–0 win against FC Nordsjælland. He then played in both legs of the semi–finals of the Danish Cup against his former club, Brøndby, and scored in the first leg, as the club won 5–3 on aggregate to reach the final. Zimling started the whole game in the Danish Cup Final, as Esbjerg fB lost 1–0 against Randers. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he went on to make thirty–one appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
The 2006–07 season proved to be a breakthrough for Zimling, as he continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position for Esbjerg fB. On 6 August 2006 Zimling scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–3 loss against FC Nordsjælland. Two weeks later on 20 August 2006, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–2 win against FC Midtjylland. After missing one match through injury, Zimling scored on his return, in a 4–0 win against Viborg on 1 October 2006. He then scored two more goals by the end of the year, coming against Silkeborg and Viborg. His performance began to attract interest, as Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais wanted to sign him. This led the club willing to sell Zimling for the right price, but received no offers yet and he ended up staying at Esbjerg fB. Following his, Zimling then scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Odense BK on 18 March 2007. Two weeks later on 5 April 2007, he scored his seventh goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against his former club, Brøndby. Zimling then added three more goals for the club against Viborg, Copenhagen and FC Midtjylland. Despite being suspended on two occasions (including being captain, only to be sent–off for a second bookable offence against his former club, Brøndby on 29 April 2007), he went on to make thirty appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions (making him Esbjerg's second top-scorer for the club, just behind Jesper Bech).
Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Zimling continued to be linked a move away from Esbjerg, with European clubs, including Bayer Leverkusen, Sampdoria, Lazio and even his former club, Brøndby wanted to sign him. Soon after being appointed as captain, he suffered a back injury that saw him miss the first two league matches of the season. On 30 July 2007 Zimling returned to the starting line–up against AGF and helped the club draw 2–2. A week later on 11 August 2007, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–2 loss against Copenhagen. However, during a 2–0 win against Vanløse IF in the second round of the Danish Cup, Zimling suffered a 'serious ligament injury' that saw him out for two months. On 22 October 2007 he returned to the starting line–up against FC Midtjylland and scored the equalising goal, in a 2–2 draw. Zimling then scored two more goals by the end of the year, coming against Herfølge and Lyngby. His performance continued to attract interest from Odense BK and Brøndby, who was interested to sign him in the January transfer window. It was agreed on 20 December 2007 that Esbjerg agreed to sell the player to FC Midtjylland. However, he rejected the move, preferring to leave the club in the summer. Following this, Zimling was continued to plagued with injuries on three occasions as the 2007–08 season was coming to an end. Despite this, he was featured in the Danish Cup Final against his former club, Brøndby, coming on as a second-half substitute, as Esbjerg lost 3–2. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Zimling went on to make twenty–one appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, it was reported that Esbjerg was going to offer Zimling a new contract, but the club's chairman Jørgen Jensen denies this and expected him to leave in January. At the start of the 2008–09 season, he started the first four league matches of the season. This lasted until Zimling missed one match, due to an injury. He returned to the starting line–up against Horsens on 31 August 2008, as Esbjerg lost 1–0. However, Zimling's playing time was restricted for the rest of the year, due to being on the sidelines on three occasions. Despite aiming to score five or six goals as his target before leaving in January, Zimling failed to do that, as he went on to make nine appearances.
Udinese When his contract set to expire in December 2008, it was announced on 20 July 2008 that Zimling would be moving to Serie A team Udinese on a free transfer and will join the club in January. The club were interested in signing him while he was playing for Esbjerg fB. At one point, Esbjerg fB and Udinese both reached an agreement to fast-track Zimling's transfer in August, but the compensation prevented it from happening.
However, he had to wait for two months to make his debut for the club after spending two months on the sidelines, coming against Genoa on 22 March 2009, starting a match and played 67 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–0 loss. Three weeks later on 12 April 2009, Zimling made his second start for Udinese, as he helped the club win 2–0 against Reggina. In the last game of the season, he came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute and provided an assist for Odion Ighalo, who went on just three minutes later just after Zimling went on as a substitute, in a 6–2 win over Cagliari. Having been placed on the substitute bench in the second half of the season, Zimling went on to make four appearances in all competitions.
In the summer transfer window of 2009, Zimling was linked a move away from Udinese, as Italians clubs were interested in signing him. At one point, he went back to Denmark to finalize a possible transfer, but the deal never materialized and he stayed at Udinese, who ultimately wanted to keep him. Zimling made his first appearance of the 2009–10 season, coming in the opening game of the season against Parma, as he started the match and played 66 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–2 draw. However, once again, Zimling's first-team opportunities were limited once again, due to emergence of midfield talent like Gökhan Inler, Gaetano D'Agostino, Christian Obodo and Fernando Tissone, as well as, his own injury concern. Throughout the 2009–10 season, the club tried to sell him, but failed to do so. On 27 January 2010 he made another first team appearance for the club, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win against A.C. Milan in the quarter–finals of the Italian Cup. Following this, Zimling was demoted to Udinese's second team for the rest of the season. In his second season at the club, he went on to make two appearances in all competitions.
NEC Nijmegen (loan) On 8 June 2010, Eredivisie side NEC announced that they had signed Zimling on loan for the rest of the season. Upon joining the club, he was given a number six shirt ahead of the new season.