With the majority of European leagues ramping up their preparations for the start of the 2024/25 season over the coming weeks, you might be forgiven for thinking that there was no quality football available to follow.

While the European Championships, and now the Olympics, may have offered some distractions from the long summer break, top-level leagues are still ongoing as most Scandinavia, Denmark excepted, play through the summer months.

The likes of the Swedish Allsvenskan and the Norwegian Eliteserien, in particular, are leagues of significant quality.

From a recruitment perspective, these leagues are extremely interesting, given the amount of young talent that tends to come through and make their breakthrough in these leagues.

We are increasingly seeing top teams with strong recruitment departments covering these leagues and looking to shop directly in these markets instead of allowing top Scandinavian talents to move to the likes of the Netherlands or Belgium before they look to pick them up.

Both the Allsvenskan and the Eliteserien are also first contact points in Europe for talented young African players making their way across to play in European football.

In this article we have identified four players split between the Allsvenskan and the Eliteserien who have impressed so far this season in terms of their creative ability for their team.

For the most part these are wide attackers or players who are at their best when they are positioned in the half-spaces and we will concentrate on those who create threat from their ability to play in possession when driving into the opposition area.

Oskar Sivertsen Scout Report At Kristiansund BK – Winger

The first player on our list is the 20-year-old Norwegian U20 international winger Oskar Sivertsen of Kristiansund.

He is a product of the club youth academy, having spent his entire career there, other than a loan spell at Hodd.

Sivertsen is a player who is comfortable playing on either win, and he is naturally right-footed.

Oskar Sivertsen Radar Map At Kristiansund BK

As you can see from his pizza chart, he is in the 86th percentile for goal contributions per 90 and the 93rd percentile for expected goal contributions.

He is effective in the final third both in terms of working shooting opportunities for himself and creating chances for teammates.

It does not matter whether he plays on the left or the right of the pitch. He is at his most effective when playing in the half-spaces

Interestingly, he is also in the 80th percentile for shots per 90 amongst wingers and the 84th percentile for dribbles per 90.

These outputs are impressive for a young attacking wide player who is enjoying his true breakthrough season in the first-team.

Oskar Sivertsen Penetrating Carries Map 2024

As you can see from his progressive carry map, which shows all of his progressive carries from the start of this season in the Norwegian top-flight, he provides a significant threat with his ability to run with the ball and break into the opposition area from the left or the right half-spaces.

When he takes possession of the ball in these areas, he can either link with teammates and then make off-the-ball runs to access space or take possession himself and drive into dangerous positions.

If Sivertsen continues to develop in this manner and keeps playing so effectively, then there is little doubt that he will get a move from the Norwegian top flight sooner rather than later.

As things stand, a player with this kind of specific profile would be best suited to a move to either Serie A or the Bundesliga.

Tobias Gulliksen Scout Report At Djurgårdens – Winger

Our next player is another Norwegian winger, although one that has actually moved to play in the Swedish Allsvenskan with Djurgårdens.

Tobias Gulliksen is a 21-year-old Norwegian U21 winger with 11 caps and 1 goal to his name at that level of international football.

He has already had two relatively big moves in his career to date, having originally developed through the academy at Stromsgodset before moving in 2023 to join Bodo|Glimt for £2.3M and then again in February of this year as he crossed the border into Sweden for £1.8M to join Djurgårdens.

At the time of writing, he has four goals and four assists in the Allsvenskan for his new team.

Tobias Gulliksen Radar Map At Djurgårdens

As you can see from his pizza chart, Gulliksen is actually overperforming his expected outputs, as he is in the 62nd percentile for goal contributions but only the 14th percentile for expected goal contributions.

His underlying outputs are strong.

However, he is in the 87th percentile for dribbles per 90 and the 70th percentile for shots per 90.

He is also a dangerous passer on the ball, and he is in the 73rd percentile for progressive passes per 90.

Tobias Gulliksen Penetrating Carries Map 2024

As a creative attacking player, Gulliksen provides most of his threat with his ability on the ball in the half-spaces on the left side of the pitch.

From these positions, he progresses the ball into the penalty area through his ability to drive and carry the ball or through his passing and line-breaking ability.

Zeidane Inoussa Scout Report At Häcken – Winger

Next up, we have the 21-year-old Swedish winger Zeidane Inoussa of Häcken.

He is a Swedish U21 international with two caps for Sweden at that international level.

So far this season, he has five goals and one assist in 13 matches in the Allsvenskan.

Inoussa has had a curious route to this point in his career, having played originally at Brommapojkarna in Sweden.

At an early age, he moved to France to join Caen, and in that period, he also had a loan spell in Spain with Valencia.

In the end, in 2023, he moved back to Brommapojkarna on a permanent transfer but stayed for only one season before moving to Häcken for a fee reported to be in the region of £1.65M.

Zeidane Inoussa Radar Map At Häcken

It is fair to say that the signing of Inoussa has looked like something of a masterstroke to this point in his career, and his pizza chart is very instructive.

He is in the 81st percentile for goal contributions and the 70th percentile for expected goal contributions.

Interestingly, he is also in the 99th percentile for touches in the opposition area per 90.

Gulliksen is likely going to see out the entire season at Djurgårdens.

Still, if he continues to develop in the way that he is and if his outputs start to reflect his underlying data, then he will likely be a candidate for a move to a top-five league by the winter transfer window.

Zeidane Inoussa Penetrating Carries Map 2024

As you can see, Inoussa is a player who is at his best when he is in possession in the final third on the left-hand side.

From this position, he can outplay defenders and break into the penalty area; from these positions, he can create for teammates effectively.

Having already moved to clubs in France and Spain earlier in his career, it is unlikely, in our opinion, that he will repeat these moves.

Instead, he has the ability to play in the Premier League as his next move.

Sebastian Nanasi Scout Report At Malmö FF – Attacking Midfielder

The fourth player we will discuss is the 22-year-old Swedish international attacker Sebastian Nanasi of Malmö FF.

At the time of writing, he has three caps and one goal at full international level.

So far this season, Nanasi has scored six goals and nine assists in 16 Allsvenskan matches.

He joined Malmö from a lower league side at youth level and has played his way into becoming one of the most important attacking players in the team.

Sebastian Nanasi Radar Map At Malmö FF

As you can clearly see from his pizza chart, he is a player who excels in both the attacking and ball progression sections of his game.

In terms of his pure attacking outputs, he is in the 91st percentile for goal contributions and the 82nd percentile for expected goal contributions.

He is also in the 76th percentile for shots per 90 and the 98th percentile for touches in the opposition area.

In short, he is a very versatile and effective attacking threat.

In the ball progression phase he is in the 87th percentile for dangerous passes (passes to the final third and penalty area) and the 98th percentile for progressive passes.

Sebastian Nanasi Penetrating Carries Map 2024

Again, Nanasi is a player who thrives in possession of the ball in the half-spaces on the left side of the pitch.

From this position, he provides a genuine threat, whether he is passing through lines and into the opposition area or whether he takes the ball himself and looks to open angles for shooting opportunities.

In our opinion, it is clear that Nanasi’s next move will be to a top-five league.

Still, he will do so for a team that is regularly and consistently challenging for European qualification.

Conclusion

As seen from this Scandinavian scout report, the Scandinavian leagues remain one of the most interesting and talent-rich markets for big teams to recruit from, and their tendency to trust and play young players means that there are always new names emerging.