Arsenal and Aston Villa lead ‘Odegaard 2.0’ race as Man City BOMB dropped

Robin Bairner

27 Jan 2025 10:15 GMT
2 min read

Martin Odegaard, Sverre Nypan, Arsenal, Rosenborg, 2024 — © IMAGO

Rosenborg star Sverre Nypan is wanted by a string of Premier League clubs, including Arsenal and Aston Villa – but not Manchester City.

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Nypan visited the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as Man City came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Premier League, but reports from the player’s native Norway, which have been confirmed by FootballTransfers, indicate that Pep Guardiola’s side are not seriously interested in the teenager for the moment.

Instead, Arsenal and Aston Villa are leading the way for a young man who has been dubbed ‘Odegaard 2.0’, according to VG.

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Current ETV

Sverre Halseth Nypan

M (C)

Sverre Halseth Nypan

M (C)

ETV Range

€2M - €3.4M

Three clubs want Nypan

Arsenal are the club that has maintained their interest in Nypan for the longest period and are therefore seen to be leading the race for the midfield star. Mikel Arteta’s side want to use him in their first team immediately, which could be an attractive proposition for the youngster and agent Rafael Pimenta.

Fellow Premier League outfit Aston Villa are also following him and could see him as a like-for-like replacement in the squad for Emiliano Buendia, who is leaving to join Bayer Leverkusen.

Girona, who are owned by City Football Group, are the other club seriously interested in Nypan currently, according to the Norwegian source. This interest helps to explain why the teenager was in Manchester on Saturday.

Expect the unexpected

The Nypan deal is being conducted by Pimenta, who has masterminded the rise of Erling Haaland to become football’s most valuable player.

For this reason, it should not be taken for granted that the Norway U21 international will automatically move to the biggest club interested in him or simply accept the largest offer presented to him.

Haaland, who recently signed a giant nine-and-a-half-year deal with City, moved to Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund before finally signing for Man City, and it may well be that this is used as a template for Nypan to build his career.