Haaland to City: Premier League's 13 greatest ever Scandinavian players ranked | OneFootball

Erling Haaland will join Manchester City for the 2022/23 season following an insanely prolific spell at Borussia Dortmund.

The Norwegian is only 21, but continues to be lauded as one of the most dangerous forwards in football due to his obscene firing rate in front of goal, having bagged 132 goals from 180 professional club games so far.

Add to this 20 goals from 21 caps for Norway and it’s hard to imagine Haaland being anything other than a complete monster in the Premier League.

Still, it’s easy to forget with how incredible a start he’s had to his career that he is still learning. The Premier League is no easy division, after all. Many have tried to come and conquer, but failed miserably in their quest.

It doesn’t get much better than learning under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola’s City, though, and if they can get him up to speed quickly, then it’s curtains for their Premier League title rivals.

Haaland has the potential to become one of the best in the world full stop, but that is a long way off. And for now, he has work to do to ensure he follows in the footsteps of the many great Scandinavians who have lit up the English top flight before him.

The Premier League has been made all the more iconic over the years thanks to the efforts of the very best in Scandinavian footballing talent. From front to back, English football fans have been treated to some incredible talents.

So, with Haaland in at the Etihad and ready to continue on from his father’s legacy in their sky blue shirt, now is as good a time as ever to rank 13 of the greatest Scandinavians to play in the Premier League. If all goes to plan, the 21-year-old will be in this list before we know it.

13. Morten Gamst Pedersen

Come on, it’s not a list of Premier League Scandinavians without this icon. The streets will never forget Pedersen for his time at Blackburn.

White ankle tape, frosted tips and a free-kick. You know the rest. Ran the show.

12. Brede Hangeland

Fulham beat out competition from other Premier League sides to sign Hangeland in 2008, who reunited with Roy Hodgson as a result.

The towering Norwegian defender took to England with ease, and led Fulham to the Europa League final in 2010, before eventually leaving for Crystal Palace in 2014 and retiring in 2016. An underrated defender.

11. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Beginning his Premier League journey with Southampton, Hojbjerg has developed into one of the most important players in the team at Tottenham, firstly under Jose Mourinho and most recently under Antonio Conte.

He’s spent his best years in the English top flight and is tailor made for the division, blending a technical ability with his no nonsense approach.

10. Henning Berg

Berg was the first player to ever win the Premier League with two different clubs, having been a part of the Blackburn side that lifted the trophy in 1994/95, and lifting it twice with Manchester United following his 1997 transfer.

A versatile defender, Berg was capped 100 times for Norway before retiring and is remembered fondly in England.

9. Daniel Agger

Turning out 175 times in the Premier League for Liverpool, Agger was bitterly unfortunate not to leave the club with more silverware, considering his qualities.

He left Liverpool after an eight-year stay in 2014 with just a League Cup and a Community Shield to his name, returning to Brondby in his native Denmark as an FA Cup and Champions League runner up, and a two-time Danish Player of the Year.

8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

His stay in the Premier League was rather short, but boy was it sweet. Ibrahimovic bagged 17 goals and assisted five in 28 league games in 2016/17, while also helping United to clinch the League Cup and Europa League.

Him, Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho formed a serious trio that season. It’s just a shame he got injured and his spell came to a rather unfortunate end.

7. Kasper Schmeichel

The number one goalkeeper in that Leicester side that won the Premier League in 2015/16, Schmeichel’s legacy as a Premier League legend was secured after such an incredible feat.

Schmeichel had some pretty big gloves to fill considering who his dad is, and so a respectable professional career would’ve been fine. However, he can always say he was a Premier League winner, and has since become one of the best goalkeepers to grace the league in the last decade.

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6. John Arne Riise

Norway’s record appearance holder and Liverpool’s ginger-haired utility man, there were very few who had a shot as hard as Riise.

The man would never stop running and could’ve put life on mars from a set-piece if given the chance. He spent seven years with Liverpool and left a Champions League winner most famously, assisting in the Istanbul final.

5. Christian Eriksen

Perhaps the only actually good bit of business that Tottenham managed to conduct with their Gareth Bale money, Eriksen was a serious player the minute he signed for Spurs from Ajax.

An unrelenting creative midfielder with a knack for a free-kick, he left Spurs for Inter in 2020 and became a Serie A winner, before returning to the Premier League with Brentford following a cardiac arrest. His recovery has been incredible, with the Denmark international proving to everyone just how classy a player he is.

4. Sami Hyypia

Liverpool’s big Finnish centre back, Hyypia enjoyed 10 great years at Anfield and forged his most famous defensive partnership alongside Jamie Carragher in the early-to-mid 2000s.

Hyypia captained the Reds until the rise to prominence of Steven Gerrard and left a fan favourite, having been instrumental in two FA Cup wins and a Champions League win. A proper player.

3. Ole Gunner Solskjaer

The ‘baby-faced assassin’ doesn’t get the credit he deserves these days, probably because of his managerial spell with Manchester United. However, don’t let that distract from the fact that Solskjaer was a ruthless goal getter who read the game exceptionally well, hence his constant impact from the bench.

The Norwegian forward is forever a United legend for his efforts and Champions League final goal, but also bagged 91 goals and 37 assists in the Premier League, as well as winning just about everything he could with the Red Devils.

2. Freddie Ljungberg

When not modelling underwear for Calvin Klein, Ljungberg was taking the Premier League by storm with Arsenal and flying the flag high for Sweden as a result.

Running down the wing, often with a very unique red mohawk, Ljungberg was integral to Arsenal’s early-2000s success and won two Premier Leagues and three FA Cups, as well as being named the Premier League Player of the Season in 2001/02. An Arsenal and Premier League legend.

1. Peter Schmeichel

Topping the lot is of course the great Dane. Peter Schmeichel made it damn near impossible for his son Kasper to forge an equally as strong legacy, because his is so gargantuan, as a Premier League Hall of Famer.

Schmeichel signed for United from Brondby in 1991 and turned into the best goalkeeper in the world during his time at the club, kickstarting an era of utter dominance led by Ferguson. He left a treble winner in 1999, and would return to the Premier League to play with Aston Villa and Manchester City before retiring as a five-time league winner, three-time FA Cup winner and more.

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