Manchester City set to beat Arsenal and Aston Villa to Norwegian midfielder | OneFootball

Manchester City are closing in on a deal to sign one of Norway’s most exciting young prospects, defeating Arsenal and Aston Villa in the race for the player’s signature.

Norwegian media reported in mid-January that the former Premier League champions had placed themselves in the race to sign the teenager, with a decision on his future believed to be imminent at the time.

It was claimed that Rosenborg would be demanding around £10 million for the player given the extent of the interest from throughout the continent, while Manchester City would go on to host the player and his family at a Premier League game later in the month.

Having attended Manchester City’s clash with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, watching the contest with his family and agent Rafaela Pimenta from Erling Haaland’s corporate box, Sverre Nypan then travelled to London for discussions with Arsenal.

The efforts of both Manchester City and Arsenal were then seemingly usurped by Aston Villa, who appeared to be close to a deal by mid-April, only for the former to now emerge as the closest to his signature with significant developments now revealed this week.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Jordan Campbell, who reveal that Manchester City are now close to reaching an agreement to sign Rosenborg’s highly-rated 18-year-old midfielder, Sverre Nypan.

It is detailed that, subject to personal terms being finalised with Etihad Stadium officials, the deal will be a record fee for a player from the Norwegian league, with Nypan then expected to go out on a season-long loan.

In January, a number of teams from around Europe pursued the Norway youth international including Arsenal, Aston Villa and Girona, all of whom are expected to now lose out to Manchester City for the player.

Nypan could become the fifth addition for Hugo Viana and Manchester City this summer, but is unlikely to feature for Pep Guardiola’s side any time soon given the plan in place for the midfielder within the Etihad offices.

Rayan Ait-Nouri became the first player to be formally unveiled by Manchester City this summer following a £31 million switch from Wolves, while the Algerian would be followed by a duo in midfield in Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki from AC Milan and Lyon respectively.

There was also a nominal fee paid out to bring in a replacement for outgoing third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson following the expiry of his contract, as Chelsea’s Marcus Bettinelli was brought into the club.