Thomas Gravesen (; born 11 March 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Gravesen played as a professional in Denmark, Germany, England, Spain and Scotland for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger SV, Everton, Real Madrid and Celtic. For the Denmark national team, Gravesen was capped 66 times and scored five goals, from his debut in August 1998 until he ended his national team career in September 2006. He represented Denmark at the international Euro 2000, 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 tournaments. He is the older brother of footballer Peter Gravesen. Club career Vejle Boldklub Born in Vejle, Gravesen began his career in 1995 with hometown club Vejle Boldklub (VB) in the Danish Superliga, alongside a handful of youths making it through the VB youth scheme, including good friend Kaspar Dalgas. At VB he played as sweeper and defensive midfielder, and after he won silver medals in the 1996–97 Superliga season he moved to German team Hamburger SV in 1997. Gravesen made a total of 94 appearances and six goals in three years with HSV. Everton Following the Euro 2000 tournament, Gravesen went to English club Everton and quickly became a favourite amongst the fans. Gravesen played a key role in Everton's rise toward the top of the 2004–05 Premier League table. With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2005, which would enable him to leave on a free transfer, Everton sold Gravesen to Real Madrid in January 2005 for a surprisingly low fee of £2.5 million. Real Madrid Gravesen was signed to fill a hole in Madrid's defensive midfield, a position somewhat different from his role at Everton. He found immediate playing success at Real Madrid, scoring in one of his first games, a 4–0 win against Espanyol. However, Gravesen would eventually find himself benched. Following public outcry over his tough style of play and the sacking of Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo and sporting director Arrigo Sacchi, who were in charge of acquiring Gravesen, he looked ready to leave Real Madrid in the winter transfer window of 2006. However, new coach López Caro would revive Gravesen's career at Real, picking him regularly, using him in the holding role in the new 4–1–4–1 formation Real adopted. Towards the end of the season, Gravesen once again found himself out of the team, and in May 2006 a number of clubs were reported to be interested