Future Man City star back on track after transfer call

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Manchester City youngster Sverre Nypan saw things quickly run into trouble on loan and has had to work for opportunities back at the Etihad

Sverre Nypan quickly got a reality check in English football when a promising start on loan at Championship side Middlesbrough fizzled out. Manchester City had high enough hopes for the young Norwegian when they signed him last summer for £12.5m that they sent him to an ambitious club in a tough league, but he was passed over by not just one but two different managers in the north-east.

And if Nypan was relieved to be saved by City when they recalled him at the end of the January transfer window, being left out of the squad completely for an FA Cup game with League One side Salford showed that he would not be handed any opportunities by Pep Guardiola. He could train with the first team, but if he wanted anything more he would have to earn it.

Short of minutes, the possibility came up for Nypan to play for the Under-21s. They had just lost a key player and it was felt that the 19-year-old could benefit from games to go with his training schedule. Despite some obvious rustiness, Nypan has quickly established himself as a cut above that level of football and, more importantly for coach Ben Wilkinson and others, had stood out in the dressing room.

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"Sverre came back from Middlesbrough, Divine left to go to Leicester and the first occasion we thought it was a good idea to give him some minutes because he'd not played for a while," Wilkinson told the Manchester Evening News. "At the moment, while the first team have got a fully fit squad it has made sense and he's been fantastic.

"Some of his technical levels that are top, he's a great kid. 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. It's nice when we get these opportunities. Sverre has enjoyed it because it has given him the opportunity to play.

"He's got four or five games under his belt now and we see the benefit of that with the quality he's got. The first game he hadn't played in a long time and he got a knock early on that I think worried him, but since then the last three or four games his influence on the game in the final third and the way he has led by example has been outstanding."

Those performances earned him a trip to London last weekend. As the Under-21s played at Birmingham on Friday night, Nypan travelled down with the first team to Wembley to watch their Carabao Cup final success over Arsenal.

He will hope for more opportunities with Guardiola until the end of the season and then City must look at finding him a better move for next term. But after a difficult start to English football, Nypan is heading in the right direction again.