PROFILE | Sébastian Nanasi hits the ground running at Strasbourg | OneFootball

Left-sided attacker Sebastian Nanasi has shone since joining Strasbourg for €11m in the summer of 2024 from Malmö FF. Since making his debut against Rennes on the 25th August off the bench, the Swedish winger has started every Ligue 1 game since. Playing over 1000 minutes so far, scoring four and assisting three, Nanasi has started life in Strasbourg where he left off in Malmö, where he was attracting interest from many top European teams before arriving in France.

Sébastian Nanasi, who was also eligible to play for Hungary through family before playing in competitive games for Sweden’s national team, was born in Kristianstad, southern Sweden in 2002. Nanasi joined Malmö FF from his local side Kristianstad FC in 2020, and after a few loans with Varbergs BoIS then Kalmar FF, he asserted himself in the Malmö first team, ending his 4-year spell in Sweden with 26 goals and 22 assists in just 94 games by the age of 22, including three goals and an assist over two legs against Greek side PAOK in the Champions League.

Nanasi running out of steam?

Nanasi made his senior debut for Sweden back in January 2023, coming off the bench late on against Finland. Three days later, he made his first start away in Iceland. After this time spent with the seniors, he spent a further year before appearing again, scoring in a friendly against Estonia. Interestingly enough, three of his six caps and all three senior international goals have come against the Baltic nation.

Spending most of his career on the left side of midfield and on the left wing, Nanasi is extremely positionally versatile, also being adept in the centre of midfield and even as a centre forward when required. His 0.32 xG per 90 puts him in the top 17% of wingers in Europe’s top five leagues over the last 12 months, although out-of-possession, there is certainly room for improvement. His lack of hard yards, however, can certainly be attributed to the sheer amount of football he has played in 2024.

It has been widely reported that Nanasi’s future lies at Chelsea, given BlueCo’s link to both clubs, however with Chelsea’s wealth of talent out wide, the move may not come to fruition in the near future. BlueCo broke the Allsvenskan transfer record to sign Nanasi this summer, and it looks like his future, for now at least, lies firmly on the banks of the Rhine.

GFFN | James Evans