'''Brian Laudrup''' (born [[February 22]], [[1969]]) was a [[Denmark|Danish]] [[soccer|football]] player. He was named by [[Pelé]] as one of the [[FIFA 100|top 125 greatest living footballers]] in March [[2004]], as was his older brother [[Michael Laudrup|Michael]].
Laudrup was born into a football family with father Finn Laudrup a former player and brother Michael also very keen on the sport. He started his career in his native Denmark with Brondy[[Brøndby IF|Brøndby]] before he won a transfer to [[Germany]] with [[KFC Uerdingen 05]]. After only one season with Uerdingen he was bought by [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] for £2m. His reputation began to grow and he earned himself a lifetime ambition when he moved to [[Serie A]] team [[ACF Fiorentina|Fiorentina]]. However, his time in [[Italy]] was both unhappy and unsuccessful and after the Italian team were [[relegation|relegated]] he was loaned to [[A.C. Milan|AC Milan]]. In [[July]], [[1994]] Laudrup was offered an escape route from Italy when he was approached by [[Walter Smith]] of [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]]. He signed in a £2.3m deal. His time in [[Scotland]] was filled with success as he heledhelped Rangers complete their nine-in-a-row sweep of the [[Scottish Premier League]]. He joined [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in [[1998]] and had a brief spell at FC Copenhagen. Family problems resulted in Laudrup joining [[Ajax Amsterdam|Ajax]] for one season. Injury forced him to retire from top-level football at 31 years old after a very successful career. He now turns out for a Danish seventh division side whilst running a successful wine business.
Laudrup was also an important player for [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]], winning 75 caps and helping them win the [[1992 European Football ChampionshpsChampionship|1992 European Championship]]. He also starred for Denmark in their [[Football World Cup 1998|1998 World Cup]] run.
