Arsenal Join Race to Sign Norwegian Wonderkid Andreas Schjelderup

According to reports, FC Nordsjaelland forward Andreas Schjelderup has caught the eye of Arsenal scouts. The Gunners have been looking to bolster their attacking depth and have identified the 18-year-old striker as a potential option.

In his first two full seasons at the Danish club, the Norwegian acquired 7 goals and 4 assists from 39 games (stats via Transfermarkt). The striker has taken it up a notch this season, having already scored 9 goals and assisted once in 15 league games so far. His performances are already drawing comparisons to Erling Haaland.

According to Calciomercato (via TBR), Arsenal are amongst numerous top European clubs keeping a close eye on Andreas Schjelderup. Scouts of the North London side are keeping a close eye on the striker’s situation.

The Norwegian reportedly has a release clause of £17.5m. With his contract set to expire in 2024, this indicates that Nordsjaelland would be willing to sanction a move in return for his release clause next summer, rather than risk losing him for a free transfer later.

Andreas Schjelderup began his career with the youth setup of Bodø/Glimt. The youngster began as a wide-forward, drawing comparisons to Jack Grealish and Eden Hazard. He is quite two-footed but prefers to play down the left wing and cut onto his right foot.

The young forward has admitted that former Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is one of his biggest inspirations:

“Andres Iniesta is the player I always looked up to. His fantastic close-range technique made him a favourite.

“But I also very much look up to Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland, especially the latter’s insane mentality.”

The 18-year-old moved to the FC Nordsjaelland academy in the summer of 2020. He has had trials at Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Juventus, amongst other clubs. But he decided on joining Nordsjaelland due to the higher chances of first-team football. In his own words:

“I visited Ajax four times, PSV four times, Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, Fulham, Atalanta and Bayern Munich,”

“They (Nordsjaelland) are a club that has shown that they give young players a chance, and that they spend enormous resources on player development.”

“It was very tempting with clubs from Italy, England and Spain. I’m a Liverpool fan myself, but I kind of did not want to be one in the crowd. It is a longer way to go to get into the first team at those clubs.”

Dean Jones drew parallels between Schjelderup and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones said,

“I don’t think there is such a thing as the next Haaland because he’s such a phenomenon, but you could look for a striker that’s got similar traits, by all means.

“There are similarities between the two of them, obviously, but I’m sure the last thing this player wants is to spend the next 10 years in Haaland’s shadow.

“He wants to be his own man, so one thing I think he should do, for now, is stay away from the Premier League.”

Arsenal are likely to face stiff competition in their pursuit of Andreas Schjelderup. Liverpool, AS Roma, Juventus, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund are all reportedly also interested in signing the Norway U-21 forward.

The North London side have also been reportedly linked with other forwards as Gunners boss Mikel Arteta looks to bolster the frontline.

Follow AD for the Latest Transfer Updates for Arsenal.