Man City loanee Sverre Nypan opens up on life as a Norwegian protege and Odegaard comparisons

Being a football wonderkid can be both a blessing and a curse - as Middlesbrough loanee Sverre Nypan well knows.

Nypan made his Rosenborg debut aged just 15 and, after the success of fellow countryman Martin Odegaard, has long been a name well known in football quarters. Big things have been expected of Nypan for many years, and big clubs have always been keen to make him theirs.

It’s a talent that Boro are hoping to take advantage of this season, having convinced Manchester City this summer that the Riverside was the best destination for the 18-year-old’s development, following his move to the Etihad. Life as the young protege is certainly not easy, and comes with a lot of pressure. But that’s only served to form a steely character in Nypan which it’s believed will stand him in good stead to succeed at Boro, and beyond.

“You get used to it,” he says humbly when asked what it’s like to be the young star. “It's part of the package of being a footballer. You understand that this is a part of being a professional footballer, so you just have to adapt and get used to it. But Sometimes it's harder, especially when you don't perform, because you know that people expect bigger things from you.

“No 16, 17, 18 year old is going to play good every game or every training session and not have any injuries and stuff. So that happens. You just have to be strong and take the learning parts of it and just keep going.

“It's difficult to say [exactly when he realised he was different]. Maybe when I came up before the first team in Rosenborg, it gets quite serious and you feel like you're not a long way from top and you started training with the first team regularly and stuff, but it not like a switch of a button, you know.

“From when I was seven, eight years old I had a dream to become a footballer when I got older. You always have that drive and in time you get closer to the goal. But it's not so much about thinking about the goal, but to enjoy the road. I remember the very first training session I scored in the wrong goal and I cried and went home. I was maybe five or six.

“I wasn't really good at all, but I really always have that drive to be good, to be the best in something. It doesn't matter what we're doing, I want to be the best in that thing. So my friends, where I came from it was always just football. Everybody was playing football.

“I was really lucky to be growing up in the area and also the age, my age, we had 20 guys at my school, we all wanted to be footballers. We were playing football every day at school and every day after school, so I became better and better and by the age 8/9 I became, yeah, pretty good.”

Nypann has been recognised for his ability for many years now. He joined Norway’s top club Rosenborg aged 14, turning down many of Europe’s top clubs in the process. Former coaches speak of a wise head on young shoulders as they spoke about his maturity in carefully plotting his future.

Interest from Europe didn’t ever dissipate and there offers from top clubs prior to this summer’s move to Man City. Notably, both Manchester United and PSG were said to have made attempts to sign him but he chose to stay and continue his development in Norway until City’s move this summer.

“First of all, we were in Rosenberg,” he says when asked about resisting earlier moves. “I was maybe 16 when it started to blow up; I started to play regularly. And I was in a really nice place - a really good team and I got playing time. I started to get to be one of the players that had to perform in the team and that was really good for my development. I was in no rush to leave.

“Obviously it's tempting when big clubs want you at an early age, but I think it's really important to just be calm and remember your time is going to come and don't rush anything. If you're in a good place and you play regularly and the opponents are what you need, then there's no point in changing and that was something my agent and my father really stressed.”

Norway is becoming known for producing elite young talent across many sports in recent years. Given Nypan is a young Norwegian midfielder leaving the country at an early age, perhaps comparisons to Arsenal star Martin Odegaard are obvious. Nypan certainly doesn’t mind them, though he’s clear they’re very different players.

He said: “You can see there's a lot of good athletes from Norway. It's a small country, so I don't know if it's something we do or if it's just how we rest! I don't know, but yeah, I'm really, really proud of being from Norway, especially now that we have a golf player also that is really good and the national team in Norway football is getting maybe better than ever. It's really cool right now.

“I haven't had no contact with him [Odegaard], but I remember when he came through, it was around 2015, and I was a young player. He obviously became a role model for a lot of Norwegians at that time. And you can also see that he didn't go right up to Arsenal. He had some ups and downs. So you just see that a player of that quality, also has some ups and downs. You just have to learn from everyone and try to replicate what they have done.

“I won't sit there and say that it's not a nice comparison [Odegaard] because it's an honour to be compared to a great player like that. Maybe the best ever from Norway! So it's great to get the comparison, but we are we are not the same player. For me, we're quite opposite. We are maybe in a similar type of area in the midfield, but the playing style is different. I won't grow up to be a Martin Odegaard, that's for sure.”

So what kind of player does the Boro loanee consider himself to be? “I like to be in the middle of the field,” he says. “I like to be a lot on the ball and I like to create. Just give me the ball, that's what I want. I can not only be an attacker, but also help out in defence.

“All my life I played as a midfielder in Norway and you have to be in both boxes. So that's the type of player I am. I like to help in the defence and also help in the offence. I can play both [8 or 10]. I don't want to say which one. You just have to change a little bit of the mentality.

“You have to be a little bit more safe as the number 8 whereas the number 10 you can maybe try something more difficult. But I enjoy playing both. As long as I'm in the middle of the pitch, I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be.”

As for his Boro loan, Nypan admits that at the start of the summer this was not the destination he saw for himself. There had been discussions with City about potentially heading out on loan, but Boro didn’t initially feature in those conversations. Boro’s interest and work to make it happen came later, with Nypan now desperate to make the most of the move.

“I'm just adapting to a new culture, a new environment. It's a lot of new things and you learn so much by moving. It's good,” he said. “I'm trying to get a look around and see around the city. I’ve got a nice place, soI’m really happy with where I am right now. I’m just really looking forward to the year to come.

“I'll keep going with the development. That's the plan. And hopefully help the team as much as I can as a Boro player. My goal is to help this team this year and fight for promotion. You always have that belief anyways, you know? It's been really good, but just stay in the same zone as we've been in so far. And if we start losing games, then just keep the same focus, keep the same motivation and keep the same drive.”

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