Middlesbrough have been told that Sverre Nypan will be most effective going forward as an eight or a ten, after securing his capture on loan from Manchester City.
The midfielder joins on a season-long loan deal, just a month after he made a £12.5 million move to the Etihad from Rosenberg. The Norwegian impressed after coming through the ranks at Rosenberg and has been handed the ‘wonderkid’ tag, such are the expectations for a bright future.
With Nypan needing to get used to English football though, and unlikely to feature much at Man City this season, Boro beat some top European clubs to his loan signature, after using their positive relationship with the Citizens to convince them a move to the Riverside was best for him.
A special talent, Nypan was playing for Rosenberg’s under-19s by the age of 14 and made his first-team debut before his 16th birthday, becoming the club’s youngest debutant in doing so. He then went on to impress and make a name for himself as they competed in the Europa Conference League.
Offering insight into what Boro might expect, former Rosenborg academy manager Roar Vikvang told Sky Sports: “The club that signs him is very lucky. He is something special. He’s a good player technically but what I think is very different from the other players was the mentality. How mature he is, how he understood the game. Not only his own position and what he was doing, but the other players.
“He could do things together to make the whole team perform. Most of the time during his career, he has played as a number eight. He is a box-to-box player and has great finishing skills.
“It is important for him and the team to get into the box when they are trying to finish attacks. He has a lot of skills. He can play as a number six, he will do that in a good way but then you don’t have his finishing skills. From my point of view, a number eight or ten.
“He has good technical skills, can use both feet, give crucial passes to other players and can finish. One of the strongest skills is he can get rid of players with the ball, he can go through. He is so powerful and has a huge amount of speed.”
It’s not just his ability that caught the eye at Rosenborg though. Vikvang notes a player with a special mentality who turned down big clubs to join Rosenborg at 13. This was seen again in 2023 when, aged 17, he was courted by Manchester United and PSG but opted to sign a new deal at Rosenborg to play more senior football and continue to develop his game before this summer’s move to Manchester City.
Vikvang said: “He was the number one player at his age in the region. Already at that age, he had been out visiting clubs abroad. It was the work of me and the club to sign him. What was most important for him was how he could continue to develop as a player. His mentality is something special.
“It was 2020, so he was turning 14. Already at that time, he was so mature for his age. He was just searching for a place where he could continue to develop because, from my point of view, there was no other option than trying to get all the way [top level]. But he hasn’t been in a hurry. He has always made good decisions.”
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