Nypan targets fresh start as Man City hand teenager pre-season tour chance after loan setback

Sverre Nypan will travel with Manchester City’s squad on their summer tour of Asia later this month, giving the 19-year-old Norwegian a direct opportunity to make his case to new head coach Enzo Maresca after a difficult debut season in England.

City paid £12.5 million to sign Nypan from Rosenborg a year ago, beating several European clubs to his signature. The playmaker’s opening campaign, however, failed to go to plan. A loan move to Championship side Middlesbrough was cut short in January, and Nypan spent the second half of the season with City’s Under-21 squad rather than building senior minutes at the Riverside Stadium.

The early curtailment also ended any realistic hope of Nypan forcing his way into Norway’s World Cup squad. His country — and Erling Haaland — made headlines at the tournament after stunning Brazil, but Nypan watched from afar. Having not been on international duty this summer, he will be among the first group of City players back in pre-season training in two weeks.

Despite the frustrations of his first year, those inside the club have been encouraged by what they have seen since his return to Manchester. Nypan trained with the first-team squad and travelled as a non-playing member to Wembley for City’s Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal in March.

“Some of his technical levels are top, he’s a great kid,” then City Under-21 head coach Ben Wilkinson told the Manchester Evening News in March. “Most important, his attitude and the example he has set to the rest of the boys — even though he is a similar age but just with that bit more experience in a senior dressing room — he’s been an absolute credit.”

Another loan move remains the most likely outcome for Nypan once the transfer window is in full swing, but his immediate priority is making a strong impression on Maresca during the Asia tour. City’s willingness to include him in that trip signals that the club’s faith in the teenager remains intact, and Nypan will be determined to reward it.