Sverre Nypan - Norway’s New Golden Boy

In a nutshell, Sverre Nyan is a technically gifted, highly intelligent player who is best employed in a playmaker or mezzala type role. Rosenborg have played with a defined and consistent 4-3-3 system this season and he lines up on the left side of a midfield trio, occasionally playing as the left winger.

Nypan is naturally right footed so cuts inside a lot, although his left foot is also of sufficient strength. The young starlet is definitely more of an attacking style midfielder and some of his better stats are in that capacity. Compared to players in his position he ranks in the top five for shots taken, total assists & offensive duels.

He has perhaps lacked conversion into goals and his shot accuracy of just 33.3% is lower than he’d like. This is perhaps one area he could improve on, but he hasn’t lacked for attempts.

One word which is regularly used to describe Nypan is ‘intelligent’. There are many who believe he is mentally far more mature than his 17 years of age. He averages the second most ‘smart passes’ in the Eliteserien (1.11), only behind Molde’s master technician Magnus Wolff Eikrem in this category.

Nypan has great vision which is one of his biggest weapons. He ranks second for progressive runs (3.26 per 90 mins) compared to other players in his position. This is aided by a strong dribbling success rate of nearly 60% which is one of the most successful for any central midfielder in the Eliteserien for 2024. His technical and mental ability combined with a decent acceleration burst make him perfect for this type of ball progression role.

Nypan is not the tallest player at 183cm but also not the smallest. His physical attributes should grow as he gets older; let’s not forget he doesn’t turn 18 until mid-December. He will likely get stronger, and his athleticism and pace should improve even more. He is a naturally dynamic player with good balance & agility in addition to the aforementioned acceleration burst.

His overall numbers for defensive duels, recoveries & counter-pressing recoveries are not too bad. He ranks fourth for offensive duels in the Eliteserien for central midfielders with an impressive 45% success rate. He is well suited to modern counter-pressing tactics which are regularly employed across the continent.

The club most strongly linked to sign Sverre Nyan has been Premier League outfit Manchester United. They have been actively scouting him since last summer and their links with Rosenborg are quite strong recently with the two teams playing a pre-season friendly.

Nypan admitted in an interview that it would be a ‘dream’ to play for Man United. However, they might face stiff competition. It’s possible a club might sign him in this transfer window, but it’s more likely to happen at some stage in 2025. Aston Villa reportedly bid £7m for the player recently and there are other clubs looking at him.

Genuine wonderkids of Nypan’s ilk don’t tend to hang around in Scandinavia for too long, especially as Rosenborg are not enjoying the best of times. They have fallen down the pecking order in Norwegian football and are unlikely to qualify for Europe this season.

There’s no real reason for Nypan to stay at the club for too much longer and he will need to move to a better team and coaching set up to develop his game. He has all the technical, mental and physical attributes to become a top class player. He could command a fee of £10m or more with sufficient add-ons because Rosenborg have developed a gem of a talent.