Manchester City’s Sverre Nypan heads to Lommel SK on loan, continuing City Football Group’s development pipeline

Sverre Nypan, the 19-year-old Norwegian midfielder Manchester City signed for £12.5 million last summer, is heading to Lommel SK on a season-long loan. The move slots him into the City Football Group’s development network, which includes clubs in the US, Australia, India, Japan, France, and several other countries.

The deal and the player

Nypan joined Manchester City from Rosenborg BK in July 2025, signing a five-year contract that keeps him tied to the club through the summer of 2030. The transfer fee came in at £12.5 million, roughly €14.6 million, with no sell-on clauses attached.

He debuted for Rosenborg’s senior team at just 15 years and 322 days old. He became the youngest goalscorer in the history of Norway’s Eliteserien at 16 years and 145 days. Multiple Premier League clubs, Arsenal among them, came knocking before City won the race.

Nypan was sent to Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship for the 2025/26 season, a deal confirmed in August 2025. That arrangement was mutually terminated in February 2026. Now he’s off to Lommel SK in Belgium, a club owned by City Football Group.

The City Football Group model

Lommel SK is owned by City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi-backed conglomerate that controls Manchester City along with clubs in the US, Australia, India, Japan, France, and several other countries. The model involves buying promising young players, developing them through the network’s satellite clubs, and either integrating them into City’s first team or selling them at a markup.

Nypan’s £12.5 million fee looks modest by Premier League standards. City retained full control over the asset’s future value through the absence of sell-on clauses in the original transfer agreement.

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