TBR Football can now reveal how Arsenal are feeling after a transfer development within the Premier League.
Arsenal fans have watched on enviously as Premier League rivals move quickly in the market, with Chelsea signing Liam Delap from Ipswich, and Matheus Cunha moving to Manchester United.
Manchester City have also been busy, signing Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri after a dismal 2024/25 campaign, in which Pep Guardiola failed to win silverware for the first time since 2017.
TBR Football can now reveal that Arsenal thought they had a deal lined up for Sverre Nypan – but have been left shocked after Manchester City swooped in.
How Arsenal feel after Manchester City struck Sverre Nypan agreement
Graeme Bailey – Chief Correspondent for TBR Football – has now shared what the mood is like within the Emirates Stadium after the Norwegian chose to swap Rosenborg for Manchester City.
Bailey exclusively told TBR Football: “It’s weird. Arsenal thought they got him.
“It was actually (Aston) Villa who came on (strongest). Arsenal are a little bit shocked that City have ended up getting him. They (Arsenal) thought City were out of it and felt they had beaten him to him.
Sverre Nypan ≈ Jude Bellingham 😉
Årets siste RBK-scoring og en liten Bellingham-feiring på sin plass for årets unge spiller i Eliteserien🌪️ pic.twitter.com/tyOO1uvKT0
— Rosenborg Ballklub (@RBKfotball) December 7, 2023
TBR Football understand Aston Villa also feel shocked after Nypan chose Manchester City – the Citizens have clearly taken a couple of their Premier League rivals by surprise in this instance.
The fee agreed between Rosenborg and Manchester City is €15m (£12.8m) – understood to be a record deal for a player out of Norway.
Martin Zubimendi and Thomas Partey decisions could have potentially led to Sverre Nypan choice
Bailey has shared an interesting – and credible – theory regarding the potential reason behind Nypan choosing Manchester City, involving Martin Zubimendi and Thomas Partey.
Arsenal are expected to sign Zubimendi in a £50m move from Real Sociedad, while Mikel Arteta is also keen to tie Partey down to a new contract, before his current terms expire at the end of June.
Martín Zubimendi's first Spain goal 🇪🇸#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/O0aytfraFM
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) November 15, 2024
Our Chief Correspondent has hypothesised: “I don’t know this (as a definite fact) but my gut feeling is that Nypan is thinking, with Zubimendi coming in, they also want to keep Partey, so where is the route for him?
“It sounds strange, but there’s a real chance that (Ilkay) Gundogan goes, (Mateo) Kovacic too. There might actually be an easier path for him at City than there is at Arsenal, considering the size of City’s squad.”