Premier League clubs urged to look at Champions League goal machine who is ‘really something special’

Jens Petter Hauge is attracting interest from the Premier League and clubs have now been told to make a move.

Hauge has thrived for Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League this season and could be the next star to come from Scandinavia.

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The 26-year-old is in his second spell at the Norwegian side, having already made the move to a top-five European league before.

He signed for AC Milan in 2020, but after struggling to make his mark, he joined Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.

That didn’t bring much success either, as he scored just three goals in 55 appearances for the club, going on to sign for Gent on loan.

Hauge then failed to score at all for the Belgian outfit though, leading to a return to Bodo/Glimt just four years after leaving.

But since that comeback, his reputation has flown up yet again and now interest is coming from England amid his fine form.

He is one of only three players this season, alongside Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior and Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise, to have 20+ completed dribbles and 20+ carries ending in a shot or a chance created in the Champions League.

On top of that, he’s also netted six times in 10 games for Bodo/Glimt, during their history-making campaign in Europe, as well as posting 19 goals and assists in his last 24 outings for his club.

It has led to Tottenham and Everton reportedly looking at signing Hauge, among other English top-flight sides.

And European football expert Andy Brassell believes he could fit into their squads, while also being a better option for one of their rivals.

“He’s definitely young enough at 26 to go away [from Bodo/Glimt] again,” Brassell told talkSPORT.com. “But he has gone away, experienced big European football at Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt, and chosen to come back.

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“He could have gone elsewhere in Europe, but he chose to come back to Bodø. And I think that in a way underlines how much they’ve grown and the sort of power that they have, that they can even afford to bring back a player from Europe.

“I think it underlines as well what a better player he is. The second time at Bodø/Glimt and the first time…how much experience he got from even the difficult moments, especially Milan and to a lesser extent, Eintracht Frankfurt.”

Brassell continued: “If he was going to come to the Premier League, and we’ve seen the level of his ability, he’s really something special.

“I don’t think there are that many authentic wide players in the Premier League outside wing-backs anymore.

“So I think he would fill an interesting gap. Now I think of teams that I think could do with non-wing-backy better width, I could see him really thriving at Aston Villa under Unai Emery. I think he’d be great there.

“I think again we’re talking about if they stay up, but I think he would be someone who would be a positive cultural shift for Spurs as well.

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“And I think if we’re talking about [Everton], maybe deciding Jack Grealish, particularly on a wages level, is a bit too expensive. And of course, he’s four years older than Jens Petter Hauge. I think he would be an interesting fit for Everton.

“I think the clubs that you could rule out in the Premier League would be Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. But other than that, I think he would improve a lot of teams in the Premier League.”

Scandinavian stars

Brassell then discussed the rise in names coming from Scandinavian countries to star in some of Europe’s top leagues.

Mentioning multiple players from the region now plying their trade in Portugal, he looked at the likelihood of English teams starting to make their move in that market too.

“I think what we’re seeing increasingly in Europe, we’re seeing it in Portugal, we’re seeing it in Spain, is that Scandinavian football, and I know for England, obviously we’re at the high end of that…I think the Scandis are coming,” he predicted.

“I think you look at the fact that you can go out and buy players from Scandinavian clubs for a fraction of what you can buy players for from Spain or Portugal, or even to a certain extent, France. You can give them a massive wage bump without breaking your structure.”

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“These are guys who are unbelievably physically fit, and increasingly technically good as well,” Brassell added. “We can talk about [Kristian] Arnstad, [Andreas] Schjelderup…I’m just listing Norwegians.

“But also, if you’re looking at players who have already left Scandinavia and excelled at other leagues, you look at Morten Hjulmand, who is the captain of Sporting, Victor Froholdt, who has done brilliantly at Porto this season despite only being a teenager.

“Jens Petter Hauge is different because he’s come back to Scandinavia and he’s in his mid-twenties and heading into his late twenties, having done well there the first time.

“But it wouldn’t surprise me if the next generation of these guys, so your next Froholdt, for example, comes directly from Denmark.

“Or the next [Martin] Odegaard or [Erling] Haaland comes directly from Norway to the Premier League.

“Maybe a Premier League club goes out, buys them, loans them off somewhere. That’s how it tends to work.”