Andreas Schjelderup Shines as Tottenham and Liverpool Eye Move

Andreas Schjelderup did not just come off the bench against Brazil. He burst into the World Cup knockout stage like a player impatient with the waiting room.

At half-time, with Norway level and searching for a spark, Stale Solbakken turned to the 22-year-old Benfica winger. Forty-five minutes later, Brazil were out, Erling Haaland had two goals, and Europe’s transfer market had a new obsession.

Tottenham Hotspur are among the clubs now weighing a move for Schjelderup this summer. Liverpool are watching too. A fee of around £35 million is being discussed, a figure that suddenly looks modest for a player who has just shredded Brazil on the biggest stage of his career.

A cameo that changed everything

Antonio Nusa had flickered in the first half, showing promise but not punishment. Schjelderup changed the tempo instantly.

His first thought was always forward. He drove at defenders, looked early for Haaland, and forced Brazil’s back line to retreat five, ten yards deeper. The effect was immediate and obvious.

He completed a successful dribble, made five ball recoveries and rarely wasted possession, finding a teammate with 25 of his 27 passes. He worked, too – one tackle, one interception, tracking runners and closing spaces. This was not a luxury winger waiting for the ball. It was a modern wide forward, fully engaged in both directions.

Before the assists came the warning. A sharp snapshot almost broke the deadlock, Alisson reacting well to push it away. Brazil survived that one. They did not survive what came next.

Schjelderup flew past his marker down the left, opened his body and hung a perfect cross into the area. Haaland attacked it, thumped his header home, and Norway had the lead. The move was simple. The execution, from both men, was ruthless.

The second assist was more routine, but no less decisive. A short, clean pass into Haaland’s path, 23 yards out. One touch, one strike, bottom corner. The pass will not make highlight reels on its own, yet it underlined Schjelderup’s clarity in the final third: quick decisions, minimal fuss, maximum damage.

Two assists, a transformed game, and a last-16 upset that will live long in Norwegian football history. For scouts and sporting directors, it was confirmation rather than discovery.

A rising force at Benfica

Schjelderup’s World Cup surge did not arrive from nowhere. His club season in Portugal had already turned heads.

For much of the first half of the campaign at Benfica, he watched from the bench. A talented left-sided winger waiting for an opening in a squad stacked with attacking options. When the chance finally came, he seized it.

He first really jolted European attention in January, scoring twice against Real Madrid and announcing himself as a player who does not shrink against elite opposition. From there, his role grew. By the run-in, he had become a regular starter.

Across his final 14 Liga Portugal matches of the season, he produced six goals and four assists. Those numbers, framed by his age and limited earlier minutes, tell a story of a player accelerating fast.

With two years left on his Benfica contract, this summer always looked like a decision point. Stay and become the face of their next project, or cash in and step into the Premier League. The World Cup has tilted that balance heavily towards England.

Norway’s livewire on the big stage

Schjelderup has started only one game at this World Cup, yet he has squeezed every drop out of his minutes.

In Norway’s 4-1 defeat to France, he still managed to stand out, claiming an assist and ranking among his country’s best performers. Against Brazil, he did more than impress; he shifted the entire narrative of the tie.

His style is built for high-intensity football. He looks quicker with the ball than without it, gliding past challenges, then snapping into counter-pressing mode the moment possession is lost. There is purpose to almost everything he does – no endless recycling, no hiding wide on the touchline.

That combination of direct running, end product and work rate is exactly what Premier League clubs crave. And they are watching.

Essien’s verdict and Premier League intrigue

Michael Essien saw this coming. The Chelsea legend spent time with Schjelderup at Nordsjaelland, where the winger’s senior career began, and his assessment was blunt.

“Schjelde has everything to take even bigger steps,” Essien told VG. “The sky's the limit. He can play for the biggest clubs in the world. Personally, I'd like to see him at Real Madrid or another big club.

“I watch Benfica's games when I can. When Andreas has the ball, he almost seems faster with it than without it. There aren't many players like that. When he accelerates, it's very difficult to stop him.”

Clubs at the top of the English game have reached the same conclusion. Tottenham, in particular, need fresh attacking options this summer. Ange Postecoglou wants pace, incision and players who can break lines on their own. Schjelderup ticks every box.

Liverpool, recalibrating their forward line for the next cycle, also see the appeal: a 22-year-old who can operate off the left, link with an elite striker, and press with intelligence.

The price – around £35 million – reflects both risk and opportunity. He is not yet the finished article, not yet a guaranteed superstar. But players who can walk into a World Cup knockout match against Brazil, turn it on its head and look entirely at home do not come cheap for long.

Norway’s win over Brazil may go down as the night Haaland dragged his country into the quarter-finals. For Tottenham, Liverpool and any other club tempted to join the race, it might be remembered as something else as well – the moment Andreas Schjelderup stopped being a promising name on a scout’s report and became a transfer priority.