Over the past decade, Norway has developed a healthy habit of producing prized footballing prodigies.
In 2015, Martin Odegaard was the most talked-about teenage talent on the planet when he joined Real Madrid from Stromsgodset at just 16. Just a few years later, Erling Haaland made his explosive entrance into European football with Red Bull Salzburg, obliterating records left, right and centre.
The pair have since established themselves as Premier League superstars and they could be joined imminently in England by Norway’s newest wonderkid, the 18-year-old Sverre Halseth Nypan.
Arsenal are looking to bring Nypan to north London to shadow his compatriot Odegaard but face competition for his signature from Aston Villa and Girona, the La Liga club that is part of the City Football Group, among others.
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Read MoreThe midfielder made his debut for Rosenborg in 2022 at just 15 years and 322 days old and has gone on to make 60 first-team appearances, scoring 13 goals and setting up 11 more.
Nypan has been a fixture in Rosenborg’s engine room for two seasons and impressed sufficiently to be named the Norwegian League’s Young Player of the Year in each of them.
It is easy to see why his rise has generated such hype.
“Nypan is a generational talent,” Norwegian football expert Jonas Giaever tells The i Paper.
“I know that term has been thrown around quite a bit but in terms of him I think that it’s quite apt and that a lot of people would agree.
“In terms of naturally gifted players to come out of Norway and to play, I suppose a sufficient amount of time in Norway, he ranks in my top three.”
Considering he burst into Norway’s top-flight in his mid-teens as a midfielder mature beyond his years, the comparisons with Odegaard were inevitable.
Odegaard was just 14 when he emerged at Stromsgodset.
“Odegaard is like Messi to us in that everyone is now ‘the new Odegaard’,” Giaever says. “When a teenage prodigy does well the thought immediately turns to Odegaard because he was the standout.
“He is the greatest talent that Norwegian football has ever produced. He was the best player in the league at age 15. I’m not sure Nypan could say that. He’s a very good player and he’s among the best ones, but not the standout in the league.”
Nevertheless, like Odegaard, Nypan seemed almost predestined for a career in football from a very young age, always seeming to be “two, three, four or five steps ahead” of the rest in his peer group before adapting seamlessly to senior football.
Naturally gifted talents do not always possess the drive and determination to maximise their ability, but Nypan appears to have both.
“He took football very seriously from a very early age and it wasn’t because anyone forced him to it was because he wanted to be that way. He wanted to learn about the nuances of the game. He started [learning about] tactics at the age of eight or nine.”
Handily for Norway given the two will likely start alongside each other for the national team before long, Nypan and Odegaard are stylistically very different.
If Arsenal win the race to sign him, they could end up playing together for Mikel Arteta too.
Nypan has already represented Norway at U21 level (Photo: Getty)“I would say Nypan is more box-to-box,” Giaever explains. “He’s not a playmaker in the Odegaard mould. He is more of a number eight who can do a lot of different things in midfield and has primarily played there in a 4-3-3, which is a sort of religious system for Rosenborg.
“He’s played everything from a 9 to a 10 but mostly as an 8 and sometimes as a No 6. So he’s played in almost every role. But I think he is a No 8 and he needs to be given freedom and be able to roam and pick up the ball and drive forward. I think that’s when he’s at his strongest.”
As well as being technically proficient, tactically smart and physically able to get around the pitch, Nypan’s temperament and mentality have also stood out.
He impressed during a pre-season friendly against Manchester United last summer when still only 17.
“Rosenborg are a really traditional, huge club and for him to be able to play the number eight role for a very prestigious club – although they’ve had a bit of a slump the past couple of seasons – he has still become the focal point of that team in front of a very demanding crowd,” Giaever says.
“He focuses on enjoying and practising football every day,” Alfred Johansson, Rosenborg’s head coach told TV2 in September.
“It’s very impressive and that’s how it should be, but not everyone would have managed it. That’s strong of Sverre.”
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Read MoreNypan is arguably more comparable in playing style to his potential future north London rival, Lucas Bergvall, who moved to Tottenham from Scandinavia at 18.
The Swede, who is older than Nypan by 10 months, has already made 27 appearances for Spurs including 16 in the Premier League. During a tricky period for the club, Bergvall has earned acclaim for his maturity and fearlessness at such a young age.
“I think he’s probably seen Bergvall and thought ‘yeah, I can probably do that,’ and that’s perhaps why they are entertaining these moves right now. I think he believes he would be ready for that,” Giaever says.
“If he goes to a top club like Arsenal then I would assume that is because he views himself as ready to play for a club of that ilk, more so than just making the numbers.”
With just a few days to go unil the January transfer window closes, Nypan’s name will be one to watch. Despite only celebrating his 18th birthday last month, he appears set to make the crucial next step in a promising career. Arsenal will hope it is with them.
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