The small Swedish club who made Gyokeres, Kulusevski & Bergvall

Erik Nathorst Windahl, academy manager at Brommapojkarna, says, “We don’t have a lot of people in the stands, but we certainly have a lot of scouts.” “Some games, primarily in the academy, feature the mothers, dads, and then scouts.”

Swedish top-flight outfit Brommapojkarna has become a hotspot for young talent, despite being relatively unknown outside of their own country.

Borussia Dortmund’s Daniel Svensson and Tottenham Hotspur duo Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski are both notable alumni.

Viktor Gyokeres, a 27-year-old Swedish striker who is on the verge of leaving Sporting CP for Arsenal in a £63.5 million deal, is the current most well-known former BP youngster.

Gyokeres, however, did not always stand out as one of Sweden’s brightest prospects. Up until the age of 15, he joined BP and played for regional side IFK Aspudden-Tellus.

Nathorst Windahl, who has been with BP since 2009 and has taken over as academy manager in 2021, acknowledges that it’s unusual for a player to stay at a smaller club before transitioning to a larger academy.

If he had arrived earlier than he did, perhaps he would have been even better. On the other hand, when he played for his club, he was the top scorer and had the most passes.

It’s actually unique because no one currently plays for our national team or has previously played for a smaller club before enrolling in an academy.

He “was a late bloomer.” In Sweden, there were many boys who were born in 1998 who were in higher positions than him.

Gyokeres developed into a clinical and unrelenting finisher at BP. At the age of 16, he scored 25 goals in 67 games, which piqued Brighton’s interest.

Nathorst Windahl quotes him saying, “He spent a year in our academy before joining the senior team, because he was mentally prepared to face men when he was a boy.”

Gyokeres is just one of the many players who has taken advantage of Brommapojkarna’s football academy.

There are more than 4,500 members in 250 different youth teams representing various age groups, making them the largest club in Europe.

Although the numbers are large, the technique is effective and is used to ensure that each player is using their full potential.

Most of the players are on one of BP’s grass-roots teams, while the more accomplished players are on the club’s A to C teams. Brommapojkarna had to be capped at three teams in one under-16 division.

Between December 2019 and December 2020, Englishman Shaun Constable served as the Stockholm outfit’s manager.

There is never a pitch that is empty, he says when driving through the Grimsta or Bromma area. The BP are everywhere, and typically you’re watching some sort of game with black and red stripes.

You need pitches everywhere because you have that many kids and teams of the same age groups.

Coaches from various age groups and the senior team collaborate to ensure that players transition as smoothly as possible.

According to BP’s sporting director, Philip Berglund, “I would say that this kind of work is really unique in Swedish football.” No clubs have the same level of professionalism as I have at other clubs.

Our first team coaches also work with the youth teams on two days a week and the under-17 coaches and the under-19 coaches are also with the first team as assistant coaches.

Many of BP’s players, including Gyokeres, Kulusevski, and Bergvall, are from Stockholm or the surrounding area, which is another impressive feature of their operation.

Berglund continues, “I think it’s really important that you try to see Stockholm from different angles before you try to see different cities.”

One of our key achievements is Brommapojkarna’s history, according to Nathorst Windahl, which shows that the city has always been number one in talent and scouting.

Every player knows that the other players who have gone on to become professionals have always referred to Brommapojkarna as the foundation that gave them the success they have today.

It resembles religion, they say. You must believe us, trust us, and follow us if you think we can help you improve your chances of becoming a professional player.

When Barcelona brought players from Asia, we brought a player who was 15 minutes away by bus, according to the article “It’s rare that we bring players in from different cities in Sweden.”

In their lower age groups, BP have had a lot of success playing against big European clubs like Paris St-Germain and Ajax, but Nathorst Windahl claims it can be challenging to compete after the age of 15.

Kulusevski, for instance, left Brommapojkarna at age 15 to join Atalanta’s academy before moving to Juventus and Tottenham in January 2022.

The 25-year-old has won Sweden’s Guldbollen, an award given to the country’s best player, in two of the last three years and has been tipped for big things as a youngster by Nathorst Windahl. In 2024, Gyokeres won the prize.

Bergvall, on the other hand, rose up from BP’s ranks and won promotion to Swedish champion Djurgarden. Last summer, he signed for Spurs at age 18.

“The ideal central midfielder is Lucas,” Lucas says. He can play for any club anywhere in the world, in my opinion. No problem, so says Windahl of Nathorst.

“I believe that he is the Swedish player that the younger boys from Sweden and Scandinavia should plaster their walls with,” he said.

You prefer the goalkeeper when you’re a young boy because you’re the top scorer or the one with the coolest haircut.

However, Lucas appears to be a model when you look at him. He can shoot, dribble, and run.

“We are pleased that we helped him get where he is now, at the age of 17.”

Gyokeres, however, is expected to be the club’s most expensive player despite his initial struggles before moving to Brighton.

With 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting, he became lethal and resurrected that scoring threat, which led to Arsenal’s interest when he moved to Coventry.

Nathorst Windahl says, “I think what we have seen him do in Swedish football in Sporting is what we have seen him do in Sporting,”

The most crucial thing for Viktor is to start every game with a club where he can become Viktor Gyokeres rather than just another player to impress the coach.

“I don’t think it’s ego, not at all, but I believe he chose clubs as a result of that decision. I believe that he fully believed that he would become the star when he attended Sporting Lisbon.

These success stories help Brommapojkarna stay on top of the club’s success story because they rely on selling on their best young talent, which attract crowds of about 10% of Stockholm neighbours AIK’s average 38, 525 attendance this season.

Because we don’t make enough money with the supporters, Berglund says, “the biggest income in the club is the transfer income.” We have a few fans, but we don’t have many, and we adore them.