The Most Notable Scandinavian Forwards in the Premier League

The most notable Scandinavian forwards in the English top flight are often underrated.

The Nordic countries have had their way of playing football. Their physical prowess often gives their players an advantage in thriving. The Premier League is normally one of the first leagues to try their luck and start their career, as it is geographically closer as well.

Scandinavian forwards often emerge in English football, although this is not always the case at present. Yet, one thing is for sure: English top flight is one destination to go, one way or another. Erling Haaland is the solid proof. He is currently the most prolific striker today and has won the Premier League top scorer in the past two seasons. The towering striker is probably one of the best Scandinavian forwards in history, with 90 goals and 15 assists in only 97 games so far. Such an incredible record!

Haaland is not the only Nordic forward who has stolen the spotlight in the Premier League in the past two years. There are Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski, and Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund. Isak is the most promising one. The Swedish international has bagged 31 goals and set up four in 52 games with the Magpies, whereas Kulusevski and Hojlund have had a problem with consistency. They both have only contributed less than 20 goals so far.

Meanwhile, Haaland's duet upfront with the Norwegian national team, Alexander Sorloth, is also a leading goalscorer in La Liga after netting four times against Real Madrid last weekend. Unfortunately, he was not that lucky in the Premier League. His spell with Crystal Palace was not even well remembered by their fans. Crystal Palace tickets might have been in higher demand, should he have had his current form while he was still at Selhurst Park. From January 2018 to January 2019, Sorloth was scoreless in 16 EPL games. No wonder that he was then loaned out abroad.

Such a contrast between Haaland and Sorloth shows how unpredictable it can be to thrive in the English top flight. The former is certainly one of the most notable Scandinavian forwards in EPL history. Yet, he is not the only one. Here are the other names that deserve to be included on the list.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The legendary Swedish forward joined Manchester United when he was already at the twilight of his career in 2016 from PSG. He played in 33 games in the Premier League, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists in the process. Unfortunately, his injury prevented him from contributing more to the Red Devils. Yet, Ibrahimovic was still able to win three titles for them: the Community Shield, the FA Cup, and the Europa League. He even bagged crucial goals in the first two. The former AC Milan and Inter Milan stars notched up once in the Community Shield against Leicester City and netted a brace against Southampton in the FA Cup final.

John Carew

His name rose to prominence in Valencia when they won La Liga and became Champions League finalists in the early 2000s. He then moved to the Premier League from Lyon to sign for Aston Villa. The former Norwegian forward scored 38 goals and made 12 assists in 123 games in the English top flight for two clubs, Aston Villa and Stoke City. Unfortunately, he was not able to deliver any silverware for them. He could only help them reach the finals of the League Cup 2010 with the Villans and the FA Cup 2011 with Stoke.

Eidur Gudjohnsen

He was initially a frontman but then was deployed as a midfielder in his later years with Chelsea and Barcelona. In short, Gudjohnsen had transformed into a versatile team player.

The former Icelandic international is undoubtedly one of the best Scandinavian forwards in the Premier League, despite his ordinary number of goals. He once signed for Chelsea, plus three other teams in the English top flight: Tottenham, Stoke City, and Fulham. During his stint there, he contributed 55 goals and 26 assists in 211 matches. He was part of the squad when the Blues clinched league titles consecutively in 2005 and 2006. Yet he did not win a single trophy for Spurs, Stoke, or the Cottagers.

Tore Andre Flo

The former Norwegian forward was part of the Chelsea squad in the late 1990s, when Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli were at the helm of the team. It was a period of the Blues’ early rise. Tore Andre Flo was the new star on the team, despite his rather lanky posture. He helped Chelsea win the Cup Winners Cup, the UEFA Super Cup in 1998, and the FA Cup in 2000. He joined them in 1997 and left in 2000 after he could not seal his place in the starting XI. Yet he returned to England again two years later, signing for Sunderland. Unfortunately, he was no longer the striker he had been while playing for the Black Cats. He only netted four times and could not prevent them from relegating. Overall, the former Glasgow Rangers man scored 38 goals and provided four assists in 141 matches in the English top flight.

Ole Solskjaer

The former Manchester United boss was once known as the deadly forward with the baby face in his peak years. Solskjaer was relatively unknown when Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sign him after his prime target, Alan Shearer, opted to move to Newcastle.

The former Norwegian international slowly but surely gained a reputation for the super sub due to his goal collection from the bench. One of his most famous goals as a substitute was when he bagged a winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final versus Bayern Munich at Camp Nou.

Solskjaer enjoyed the golden years with United when they lifted the Premier League trophy seven times from 1997 to 2007, won the FA Cup title twice in 1999 and 2004, and won the Intercontinental Cup in 1999. During his stint in England, the ex-frontman registered 91 goals and made 38 assists in 235 games.