Aston Villa made 'lengthy attempts' and believed deal was 'verbally agreed' to sign Man City summer arrivalplaceholder image
Aston Villa made 'lengthy attempts' and believed deal was 'verbally agreed' to sign Man City summer arrival | Getty Images
Manchester City won the race to sign the highly-rated Sverre Nypan amid competition from Arsenal and Aston Villa
One of Manchester City’s more under-the-radar signings this summer was Sverre Nypan, who they secured from Norwegian side Rosenborg back in July.
The 18-year-old penned a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium. He arrived in Manchester as highly rated, having made his senior debut for Rosenborg at the age of 15.
The youngster offers great versatility as he can play as an attacking midfielder, out wide and as a centre-forward - despite being a central midfielder by trade. He scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists in 70 games for Rosenborg before joining Pep Guardiola’s side this summer.
City’s signing of the youngster came amid interest from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Aston Villa. A report from The Athletic has shed light on how hard Villa worked to try and sign the player before City swooped to secure a deal .
Aston Villa made ‘lengthy attempts’ to sign Sverre Nypan
According to the report, Villa were ‘confident of an agreement with the player and Rosenborg for several months’ and appeared to be leading the chase at one point.
The club’s president of football operations, Monchi, made more than one visit to Norway to meet with the player’s family and Villa ‘thought a deal was verbally agreed.’
However, a signature never followed and Villa even made an offer to sign Nypan and loan him back to Rosenborg to try and get a deal done. However, it was not enough to stop City getting an agreement over the line. City paid £12.5m to sign the Norway Under-21 international.
Sverre Nypan to spend season on loan at Middlesbrough
Back in August, City agreed to loan the highly-rated teenager to Championship side Middlesbrough. He has featured twice for the club since his move, coming off the bench in wins over Norwich City and Sheffield United.
The Riverside Stadium outfit have started the season strongly, winning all four of their games so far. They are the only Championship team with a 100 per cent record heading into the international break.
"I like to be in the middle of the field. I like to be on the ball and create.
"All my life I've played as a midfielder. In Norway you have to be in both boxes, you have to help in the offence and defence.
"I want to keep going with my development and help the team as much as I can. I want to fight for promotion."
Continue Reading