Midfield Rebuild: Sverre Nypan

Norway has several emerging talents like Oscar Bobb and Antonio Nusa alongside the more established stars in Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard. Sverre Nypan is meant to be the next one coming through. Joining Rosenborg in 2022, he was training with their first team by the time he was 14 years old and part of Norway’s U21 team at 15.

Manchester City are reported to have an agreement with Rosenborg midfielder Sverre Nypan. In January, he visited a host of clubs, even present in Erling Haaland’s box for a Manchester City match, and was expected to join Aston Villa. Now it seems that the plan has changed. He has the same agent as Haaland.

The plan includes a season-long loan to continue his development, but the destination is unknown. Girona has been mentioned. As part of the Cherki deal, the club is due to send an unnamed player on loan to Lyon. Plenty of options for Nypan.

Nypan was born in Trondheim and joined Nardo FK when he turned five, just a short distance away from Rosenborg’s Lerkendal Stadion. By no means was he an immediate wonderkid, taking time to develop and eventually get the attention of Rosenborg when he was 14. Nypan joined their youth academy in 2020.

When he was only 15 years and 322 days old, Nypan made his Eliteserien debut for Rosenborg to become the youngest player in their history. Playing the full ninety minutes in a 4-2 victory over Jerv, November 2022.

It was the following season that Nypan broke through to the first team more consistently, starting 17 Eliteserien matches during the 2023 season at 16 years of age, and scoring 5 goals. Then last season, he became a consistent starter and one of their key players with 25 league starts, 8 goals, and 6 assists. Before turning 18, Nypan had already played over 60 first-team games for Rosenborg.

It’s worth mentioning that plenty of other talented players have either become or are on their way to being key players in Europe’s T5 leagues, starting their careers in Scandinavian football. The likes of Isak, Gyokeres, Kulusevski, Elanga, Bergvall, and Ayari from Sweden. Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, and Bobb from Norway. The same extends to Denmark.

SCOUTED Football did an excellent piece back in January, benchmarking the Scandinavian leagues with their physical data. Highlighting the high-speed running demand the Eliteserien has, second in Europe. The Allsvenskan and Eliteserien are two of the most run-heavy leagues in European football, which sounds like a good place to look for Premier League clubs. Below is how Nypan ranks against all Eliteserien and Allsvenskan midfielders, displaying his quick burst despite being only 17 during the 2024 season. You’d imagine he’ll develop much more as an athlete by the time he’s 20.

The lack of off-ball movement from midfielders when the team has the ball was a big issue for Manchester City during the 24/25 season. Players willing and physically able to make the selfless runs to open up space.

Here you can see the type of runs he excels at, in the 90th percentile for runs ahead of the ball and pulling wide runs. These are also runs that Bernardo Silva and Reijnders ranked highly for. Ranking highly for cross receiver runs speaks to his ability to get into goal-scoring positions inside the box.

If you want to learn more about Scandinavian players, then check out the Scouted article here.

Nypan has displayed in Norway his ability to progress the ball through his central carries, with a number of these being box entries. Good burst of pace, and he’s able to glide past players on the ball. Not as tidy in his carries yet, but that will come with time. He’ll appear across the pitch to support his teammates, whether it be a supporting run to create space, play a 1-2, or dribble through traffic himself.

As mentioned above, he’s not a finished article, so on loan I’d expect him to clean up with his dribbling. In the future not be as loose when carrying, but you can already see the value he brings with that skill, not fully developed. It’s part of why Manchester City recruited Mateo Kovacic, have brought in Tijjani Reijnders this summer, and it isn’t a surprise Nypan has that quality to his game.

His passing range isn’t limited. Vision is there. Plenty of chipped long passes. Switches out wide to wingers. Deep crosses into the box from the left side. Capable corner taker. Through balls to the forwards. There are promising signs of them all. Part of his development will be refining his decision-making on when to make those passes. Providing quality ones more consistently.

One of his other standout qualities is his sense of a goal at a young age. Has the ability to find himself good pockets of space in/around the box for a shot. Arrives well on the edge or into the box to finish off moves. This all feeds back to his running data. Nypan has the physical capacity to arrive in the box all game. His intelligent movement is the most impressive part.

Quite even distribution of shots with 27 on his right foot and 24 on his left. Hits the ball clean. Can strike through it well. Add that to his sense of timing at a young age, physical strengths as a runner, and you’ve got quite the player in the making.

Head is always on a swivel, Nypan is focused from minute one, and at home with pass-and-move sequences. I don’t think there are many concerns to be had defensively. Nypan handles himself very well for a young player. No issues getting involved, battling for the ball, and putting his body across. Uses it well to win fouls, shifting his hips. Incredibly mobile player you will see pop up across the pitch, roaming around to win back the ball, makes a tight turn, then has the quality to progress it. Some shades of Lucas Bergvall to his game.

Nypan is comfortable using either foot to play passes, and to cut onto before he bursts past carrying the ball. Means he can use both to control a tough pass, which is useful when arriving into the box. All helps towards him playing in midfield, roaming across the pitch, and supporting his teammates. He’s not locked to one side/angle. Clean and tidy receiving the ball in the buildup. Uses his arms well to shield the ball.

He can be drawn in defending transitions, not switched on enough to the danger arriving in the box elsewhere. Not the best decision-making when dribbling out wide in tight spaces along the box. Often dribbles into dead ends where he should be the one providing the runs off the ball.

With his qualities being covered above, that brings us to where Nypan could fit into the Manchester City first team. During this summer, we’ve seen the club linked to Ardon Jashari (22) and Gabriel Sara (25), who both strike me as depth midfield options capable of becoming starters. Neither are fixed to being a six, they can play alongside Rodri as that 6/8 type of player capable of impacting the final third. Behind Tijjani Reijnders in the pecking order. Should his development go well, that’s the spot I’d see Nypan taking for the 26/27 season, and long term, wanting to be a regular starter.

Smaller point to mention when it comes to the recruitment. The youngest recruits like Vitor Reis, Juma Bah, Claudio Echeverri, and Sverre Nypan (TBC) are an important part of the rebuild despite not being immediate first-team starters. They all sit behind the likes of Ait-Nouri (24), Gonzalez (23), Cherki (22), and Khusanov (21).

You do not want every player in the same stage of their career; otherwise, you'll end up with the same situation as this season. Stones (31), Ake (30), Akanji (29), and Walker (35) in the back line. De Bruyne (33), Gundogan (34), Bernardo (30), and Kovacic (31) in the midfield.

Manchester City needs a starting number eight, so Tijjanji Reijnders (26) makes a lot of sense. But you wouldn’t want the guy behind him in the pecking order to be at the same age. Seems likely that Mateo Kovacic (31) will be that rotation option, coming towards the end of his career. The season after next, that spot can open up for Nypan should his loan be successful. Rodri (28) is your first-choice number six, and Nico Gonzalez (23) is at the right stage of his career to be behind him.

To wrap it all up. This is a very exciting young player for Manchester City to pick up, one with a unique combination of qualities. A sense of goal, clean ball striking, and the athleticism he’s already got at a young age. Nypan will need the time to develop on loan, and by 26/27, he could be ready for a depth spot in the first team. It’s all about seeing how his physicality scales up to the top leagues in Europe. Do not expect him to be an immediate first-team starter.

For a long comp of the player, check out this video below 👇

If you’re looking for more content on Sverre Nypan, then check out all the links below 👇

• The Secrets of Scandinavia by SCOUTED here.

• Scouting Sverre Nypan by Billy Carpenter here.

• Norway’s New Golden Boy by Hudl here.

• Sverre Nypan: Norwegian Midfield Maestro by Ben Mattinson here.

• Pranav_m28 provides excellent graphics on all sorts of data, from progressive passes to ball recoveries. You can follow him here.