'My head is what makes me special': Wonderkid Sverre Nypan exclusively spoke with World Soccer ahead of Man City move

Analysis

In recent years, Norwegians have got used to seeing their country produce elite-level footballers.

Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Alexander Sorloth, Oscar Bobb, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Antonio Nusa are all excelling at major European clubs, and soon there could be another name to add to that list: Sverre Nypan.

After becoming both the youngest debutant and goalscorer in Rosenborg's history, establishing himself as an integral component of his hometown club's midfield, the 18-year-old starlet had a queue of scouts wanting to see him in action. Finally, after months of speculation, he signed for Manchester City in July before quickly being sent out on loan to Middlesbrough.

Having made his top-flight debut at the age of 15 in 2022, his rise has been compared to that of Odegaard's, who sparked a Europe-wide scramble for his signature after emerging at a similar age for Stromsgodset in 2014.

"It's a positive" Nypan tells World Soccer when asked how he handles all the attention. "It comes with a little bit of pressure, and that's natural.

"Pressure is a privilege, you know? It means that you have done something right. It would be worse if you didn't have any pressure, and nobody expected anything from you."

It's a mature answer from a footballer so young. But then again, he has had to grow up quickly since becoming a first-team player at Norway's most successful club while still in school.

Keeping him grounded have been a number of ex-Norway internationals that he has played alongside, such as Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Markus Henriksen and Rosenborg captain Ole Selnaes.

"These are big players, big names that have helped me a lot in my position as a midfielder and that I can come and talk to."

Although his career is only just beginning, Nypan holds himself to high standards - both in training and on matchdays. After first establishing himself in the first team in the 2023 season, he started the following campaign slowly, scoring just once in the first 12 matches. But by the second half of the season he was back to justifying the early hype.

Between August and November, he scored seven times, including a hat-trick at home to Lillestrom, and his form helped Rosenborg rise from tenth to eventually finish fourth. In both of those two seasons, he was named the Eliteserien Young Player of the Year.

"It's hard to recreate the form of your first season. Constantly performing at the highest level is tough", he admits.

"I did not start the [2024] season that well, but I got back up on the horse, as we say in Norway. I got back on track and performed as I should. I am really proud of how I turned that around.

"It's not easy to be promoted to a first team when you're 14 and then get your first contract when you're 15, but they took me on board really well, and it wasn't long before I felt like this is the team that I belonged to."

His humility is matched by his hunger for the game, the desire to learn and absorb as much information as possible from those who have already been there and done it. One of his coaches at Rosenborg was the former Norway midfielder Alexander Tettey, who provided plenty of guidance for Nypan.

"If you have questions about how to perform in midfield then you just ask him," Nypan says.

Tettey won 34 caps for Norway and enjoyed a distinguished nine-year career with Norwich City, including four seasons in the English Premier League. While the former Canary was regarded for his ability to break up play, Nypan is more expansive, capable of playing a variety of roles in the middle of the park.

When asked about his favourite role, he says: "I usually like to be controlling the game and being on the ball a lot. But I like being in both boxes, so I can help with the defence and I can help creating and scoring goals."

In April, he scored his 14th, and final, Eliteserien goal. But he is more than an attacking midfielder, and he values his work off the ball as much as on it.

"My intelligence on the pitch is what people say is my strength," he reflects.

"I'm not the fastest, but I'm not slow either, and my physique is okay. But my head is what makes me special."

In speaking he is thoughtful and articulate, and it is much the same story on the pitch. He expresses himself through an array of touches, each one carefully selected for the scenario at hand. His ability to find space, to think faster and more creatively than others, belies his youth.

In recent years, Norway has been shedding its reputation for producing sturdy, dependable and athletic footballers - the kind of players that flocked to England in the early years of the Premier League era. Much of that is owed to the sizeable investment in youth infrastructure, including the proliferation of all-weather pitches that have allowed youngsters to practise their technical skills throughout the year from an early age, even when the tough Norwegian winter sets in.

For Sverre, it is a journey that began early in his childhood. "I actually wasn't the most excited about playing football at first, he admits with a laugh.

"But then I started training even more, and I started performing better. And when you're good at something, it's fun. So that's what happened when I was six or seven - I started to be better than the rest."

It didn't take long before he realised that a career in football was indeed a realistic option. Playing in the youth ranks of Trondheim-based Nardo FK before switching to Rosenborg in 2020, Nypan travelled abroad to play in tournaments against some of Europe's biggest clubs.

"We actually beat some of them - then you really feel that you have something special, he recalls.

"I remember I played against Ethan Nwaneri from England [and Arsenal].

"He was really good, even though we won. And I played against [Barcelona and Spain winger] Lamine Yamal. He is obviously a great player. It was a long time ago, but it's cool to have played against players like that."

Back in January, it looked like Nwaneri would become a team-mate of Nypan's, with Arsenal reportedly leading the race to sign him. Aston Villa then joined the Gunners in the chase, but ultimately Manchester City saw off the competition, agreeing a fee of £12.5 milion with Rosenborg to sign the teenager in July.

Yet even while that deal was being finalised, it was clear that Nypan would not agree to any move that would leave him sitting on the bench. Within a month, he had joined Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the season.

Excited for the challenge 💪

Watch Sverre Nypan’s first Boro interview ⤵️

— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) August 19, 2025

"When City came, it was a really nice plan," he said at his unveiling on Teesside.

"Of course, getting into the first team there is really, really difficult, so you need to play games when you're my age...That's why I think a loan to Middlesbrough is really nice, so I can get used to English football."

Moving to England, he hopes, will also enhance his reputation with the national selectors. He has played for Norway at every youth level, scoring his first goal for the Under-21s in a friendly win against Denmark in September, but is still waiting for his first senior call-up.

Norway boss Stale Solbakken is likely to take in a few Championship matches this season, after a flurry of his players made switches to the English second tier this year. Ipswich Town paid Danish side Nordsjaelland £17.5m for forward Sindre Walle Egeli, making him the latest Norwegian after Sondre Langas, Lars-Jorgen Salvesen (both Derby County), Egil Selvik (Watford) and Aune Heggebo (West Bromwich Albion) to join the league in 2025.

Leaving home will bring challenges for Nypan, who has supported Rosenborg since he was a child and lived just five minutes from their Lerkendal Stadion.

In an ideal world, he might have left the 26-time champions at the end of the year as they looked to end their seven-year wait for the title. But that wasn't the case, and the early signs are that he has settled quickly into English football. In the same week the Trondheim club were knocked out of Conference League qualifying by German side Mainz, Nypan got his first taste of English football, coming off the bench for the last 18 minutes of a 2-1 win over Norwich City.

A week later he played the entire second half as Boro, the Championship's early pacesetters, beat Sheffield United 1-0.

After the game, his new manager Rob Edwards was full of praise, particularly complimenting Nypan for celebrating a block inside his own box.

"That's an 18-year-old lad who is quite a flairy player. But to then be celebrating blocks...he's got used to England already!"

Words by Josh Butler.