Andreas Schjelderup Impresses at World Cup, Attracts Tottenham and Liverpool

Andreas Schjelderup did not just change a game. He may have changed his career.

The 22-year-old Benfica winger walked into the World Cup last‑16 tie against Brazil as a half-time substitute and walked out as one of the most talked‑about young attackers in Europe, dragging Norway to a stunning 2-1 victory and forcing Premier League clubs to sit up properly.

Tottenham Hotspur are among those now weighing a move. Liverpool are in the conversation too. With two years left on his Benfica deal and a price tag understood to be around £35 million, Schjelderup suddenly looks like one of the more attainable attacking upgrades on the market.

A cameo that shook Brazil

Norway trailed, Brazil were cruising, and Antonio Nusa had shown flashes without landing a decisive blow. Stale Solbakken turned to Schjelderup for impact, not control. He got both.

From the moment he stepped on, the left-sided winger hunted the ball and space with the same intensity. He drove at defenders, looked early for Erling Haaland and refused the safe option. He completed a successful dribble, made five ball recoveries and never stopped thinking forward.

The numbers behind the performance only underline the impression. Schjelderup completed 25 of his 27 passes, picked up a tackle and an interception, and still found time to torment Brazil’s back line. This was not a luxury No 10 drifting on the edges. This was a wide forward doing both sides of the job.

He almost broke the deadlock himself, too. A sharp, instinctive snapshot forced Alisson into a strong save, a warning of what was coming next.

The pressure finally told. Schjelderup glided past his marker on the left, opened his body and hung a teasing, looping ball into the area. It dropped exactly where Haaland wanted it. The Manchester City striker did the rest with a trademark header. One assist, and suddenly Brazil were rattled.

The second was simpler but just as significant. Schjelderup fed a straightforward pass into Haaland, who arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner from 23 yards. Again, the winger made the right decision, early and clean. Two assists, game flipped, Brazil stunned.

On a night when Neymar could only add a late consolation, it was Schjelderup who walked off as the game’s defining creative force.

Form that started in Lisbon

This was not a one‑off eruption from nowhere. The warning signs for defenders had been there since January.

Schjelderup first drew wider attention when he scored twice against Real Madrid, a statement performance that hinted at a player ready for a bigger stage. For much of the first half of Benfica’s season he had to watch from the bench, but once he forced his way into the side he refused to let go of the shirt.

Over his final 14 Liga Portugal matches, the Norwegian delivered six goals and four assists, operating primarily from the left but constantly drifting into dangerous central pockets. It was a run that turned him from squad option into regular starter and, inevitably, into a transfer target.

At this World Cup, he has started only once so far, yet still left a mark. In Norway’s 4-1 defeat to France he produced an assist and emerged as one of Solbakken’s standout performers in a difficult evening. Against Brazil, with the stakes higher and the opposition sharper, he elevated again.

Clubs notice that kind of trajectory. So do agents. So, crucially, does the player himself. Schjelderup is now understood to be keen on a move to the Premier League this summer, a step that would match both his ambition and his current momentum.

Essien’s verdict and a Premier League fit

Those who worked with Schjelderup early saw this coming. At Nordsjaelland, where his senior career began, he crossed paths with Chelsea great Michael Essien, who has never hidden his belief in the winger’s ceiling.

“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.”

That last line will echo in recruitment meetings in north London and on Merseyside. Tottenham, in particular, are in clear need of fresh attacking options this summer. Ange Postecoglou wants wide forwards who can break lines, press with aggression and still deliver numbers in the final third. Schjelderup’s recent output – and the way he produced it under pressure – ticks every box.

For Liverpool, in the early days of a new era, a 22-year-old left-sided creator with Champions League and World Cup experience also fits the profile of a long‑term project.

Benfica know this market well and rarely sell cheap, but with only two years left on his contract, a fee in the region of £35 million feels realistic rather than fanciful. For a player who has just dismantled Brazil in half an hour and finished his league season in a blur of goals and assists, that could prove a bargain.

Schjelderup has already turned one heavyweight on its head this summer. The next question is simple: which Premier League giant will give him the stage to do it every week?