Career
Helsingborgs IF
Ekstrand started playing football for his home town club Lunds BK as a youth player. In 2005 he moved to Helsingborgs IF. Ekstrand had developed himself into a key player at Helsingborg before moving on to Udinese in 2011. Udinese
On 18 January 2011, Ekstrand penned a four-year deal with Udinese through to 2015.
Ekstrand debuted for the club when Udinese faced Lazio in a 2–1 victory in which he came off the bench in the 70th minute.
Ekstrand made his first start for Udinese in a Champions League qualifying game against Arsenal. Foreign this match, Udinese changed from the previous season"s 3–5–2 formation to 4–1–4–1, where wing-backs Mauricio Isla and Pablo Armero became midfielders, thus using 4 defenders instead of 3 centre-backs.
Ekstrand remained in the starting XI in the return leg a week later with Udinese losing 2–1 (3–1 agg). Ekstrand went on to make a further 17 appearances in all competitions for the 2011-2012 season, picking up a total of seven yellow cards.
Watford
On 31 August 2012, Ekstrand joined Watford on a season-long loan from Udinese.
He made his debut against Charlton Athletic on 2 October, coming on in the second half to replace Neuton. On 24 July 2013, Watford confirmed Ekstrand had signed a three-year deal with the club He made his first start of the season away to Reading on 17 August 2013.
Ekstrand scored his first goal as a permanent Watford player against Bolton Wanderers on 14 February 2015.
On 24 March 2015, it was announced that Ekstrand would be out for up to nine months after damaging his cruciate ligament in a Football League Championship match against Ipswich Town on 21 March. Having represented Sweden U21"s, Ekstrand made his full Sweden debut in a friendly against Syria in 2010.
Ekstrand’s performances with Watford were rewarded with a return to the Sweden squad for the friendly game against Argentina on 6 February 2013. However, he withdrew from the squad due to a knee injury.