Manchester City are close to reaching an agreement to sign Rosenborg midfielder Sverre Nypan.
The 18-year-old has been pursued by a host of clubs but is now on course to join City.
Subject to personal terms being finalised, it will be a record fee for a player from the Norwegian league.
Nypan is expected to go out on a season-long loan to continue his development.
City were not among his suitors in January, when a number of other teams from around Europe pursued the Norway youth international.
He was wanted by Arsenal, Aston Villa and Girona — also part of the City Football Group (CFG) umbrella — but they became resigned to losing out.
Arsenal hosted Nypan but could not persuade the teenager and he chose to stay until the summer. Villa went to Norway to present their vision, only for a deal to elude them. City then entered the race, convincing Nypan and his family on a switch to the Etihad Stadium.
Nypan has already played 70 senior games for Rosenborg, who sit third in the 2025 Eliteserien after 11 games, and is a Norway Under-21 international.
Who is Sverre Nypan?
By Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Nypan jumps off the page. After Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and Antonio Nusa, Norway has another mighty prospect.
Nypan grew up in Trondheim, playing academy football locally for Nardo FK, before joining Rosenborg in 2022. They are the town’s biggest club and, historically, the most successful side in Norwegian football.
Nypan was training with their first team at 14. He was a Norwegian under-21 international a year later.
He may not have been young enough to displace Odegaard as the youngest player in Eliteserien history — the Arsenal captain was 15 years and 118 days when he made his first appearance for Stromsgodset in 2014 — but his progress is no less remarkable. Eight goals for Rosenborg during the 2024 season and a team-leading six assists helped him quickly capture the national interest.
Direct comparisons with Odegaard are tempting and not unreasonable, but Nypan is a more all-round midfielder. He can pass, carry, create and score goals, too, but tends to occupy more areas of the pitch.
Nypan is more of a No 8, less of a No 10, and plays with fewer flourishes.
(Mark Scates/SNS Group via Getty Images)
