Arsenal & Man City in race to sign teenager compared to Martin Odegaard | OneFootball

Arsenal and Manchester City are both reportedly interesting in signing Rosenborg teenager Sverre Nypan.

The Norwegian prodigy has predictably been compared to his compatriot Martin Odegaard, who also caught the eye in his nation's top flight while he was still a teenager before moving to Real Madrid and later Arsenal. Nypan is yet to play with the Gunners' skipper for Norway's senior side, but has been capped at under-21 level despite only turning 18 in December.

Nypan was an undisputed regular in Rosenborg's midfield throughout the 2024 season, racking up an impressive eight goals - a tally only one of his teammates could better across the campaign - alongside seven assists as he was crowned the Best Young Player in Norway's top flight.

The Telegraph report that Arsenal are interested in the buccaneering teen, while Norwegian outlet TV2 claim that Manchester City are sniffing around the midfielder, who is thought to be valued in the region of £10-11m.

Nypan has been attracting interest from Europe's elite ever since he made his top-flight debut for Rosenborg in November 2022 as a 15-year-old. Unlike Odegaard, who was also mixing it in the Eliteserien before his 16th birthday, Nypan turned down advances from multiple continental giants, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all thought to have been interested.

As Rosenborg's director of football Mikael Dorsin reluctantly admitted, it appears that Nypan may finally move on this month. "We have Sverre here as long as he is here, and then we will see what happens," the former Sweden international told TV2 this month. "We are happy for the time we get to have him here and we understand that there is a lot of interest around him."

Arsenal have reportedly lined up a £51m move Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi in the summer, while Manchester City are mulling over a bid for their former player Douglas Luiz in search of central reinforcements. Both of those options have far more experience and are naturally more defensively minded than Nypan.