Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A. Additionally, Elkjær scored 38 goals for the Denmark national team in 11 years, being a leading figure for the Danish side under coach Sepp Piontek that played at the Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup (a first-ever appearance), often hailed as the golden generation of Danish football by their countrymen.

Born 11 September 1957, in Copenhagen, Elkjær's career started with Vanløse IF in 1976, where he stayed for just one season, playing 15 games and scoring seven goals.

With the team, he won the 1978 domestic Cup (his entire campaign consisted of nine minutes in the final, against Hertha BSC),[2] but never got on with the manager or the harsh, disciplined atmosphere of a German dressing room,[3] and eventually left.

in Italy in the summer of 1984 and, in his first season with the team, he played an instrumental role as it won the Serie A title, the scudetto, for the first time in its history; he aided that conquest with a solo left-flank run against Juventus (a 2–0 home win), where he lost his right boot, kept on running with the ball and ended up shooting home with his bootless right foot.

[7] In 1984, Elkjær finished third and in 1985 second in the European Footballer of the Year awards, both times surpassed by Michel Platini, who played for Juventus.

[2] Aged 31, he suffered a number of injuries while at Vejle,[2] and had a hard time living up to the high expectations of the crowds, eventually retiring two years later, having only appeared in a total of 26 matches combined.

While playing youth football for Frederiksberg Boldklub, Elkjær made his debut for the Danish under-19 national team, in October 1975.

[10] On 22 June 1977, aged 19 years and 284 days, Elkjær made his debut for the senior national team, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win against Finland.

He played a prominent role in UEFA Euro 1984, scoring two goals in four games,[10] which helped pave the way for his move to Italian football.

On 14 June 1988, he played the last game for his country, aged 30 years and 277 days, as Denmark lost 2–0 to West Germany, finishing with three group stage defeats.

After the 1984 Euros, where Denmark made it to the semi-finals, the Danish ministre of culture, Mimi Stilling Jacobsen, asked Elkjær to dance at a reception.

[citation needed] Additionally, he works as a UEFA Champions League pundit for Danish TV3+, alongside Michael Laudrup and host Peter Grønborg.