Barcelona were at the Johan Cruijff Arena and then Norway against the Netherlands

There are two things that we could take with us from the friendly match between Norway and the Netherlands on Friday. – We really miss captain Martin Ødegaard in midfield and the comet development of Andreas Schjelderup continued in what was his first international match from the start and his first national team goal.

Norway faced the Netherlands in a friendly match without captain Martin Ødegaard, who is still injured, and without super striker Erling Braut Haaland, who was rested. The match was part of the run-up to a World Cup this summer that everyone is wondering if it is possible to carry out.

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Andreas Schjelderup – who has already convinced Barcelona – got to start for Norway for the first time. He thanked national team manager Ståle Solbakken for the trust in scoring the first goal of the match. The goal was also the 21-year-old’s first for Norway. As TV 2’s football expert Yaw Amankwah said: “The boy has become a man, and Andreas Schjelderup’s 1-0 score testifies to a player in the form of his life before the World Cup.”

Andreas Schjelderup came up with an art score, then it unraveled!

Fantastic development – and as a well-known, demented orange politician would say: “Hot, really hot, hotter than ever.”

There were many scouts in the stands on Thursday evening as well. They got to see Norway play a brilliant first half, but early in the second half a lot of strange things happened that eventually led to the final score Netherlands 2 – Norway 1.

Read: The world’s best coach uses the international break to negotiate the all-time manager contract

Norwegian players are doing well around the major European leagues – and out in Europe such as Bodø/Glimt. This season, Andreas Schjelderup has played his way onto Barcelona’s radar – much to the annoyance of Benfica manager José Mourinho. “The Special One” overlooked the left winger from Bodø for a long time, but gradually José Mourinho has apparently also seen what TV 2 has seen: that Schjelderup is no longer a boy, but a man.

Barcelona’s interest is not new. At the beginning of March, scouts from the La Liga giant sat in the stands and watched the “player of the match”.

In the Champions League, Andreas Schjelderup scored twice and became the “player of the match” in the wild 4-2 win over Real Madrid at the end of January. On March 2, the 21-year-old was again the match winner and the best on the pitch. At that time, the Barcelona scouts sat ready in the stands and took notes diligently.

According to the Spanish newspaper Diario AS, Barcelona are very interested in the Norwegian winger. Sporting director Deco is said to have personally been given the overall responsibility for following Schjelderup’s development closely. The interest is so concrete that Barcelona had scouts physically present in the stands both during the match in the Portuguese league and during Thursday’s international match. Schjelderup responded to the interest with steadily improving play.

Barcelona is not alone. Villarreal, who have very good experience with Norwegian players (Alexander Sørloth), and Roma, with whom José Mourinho does not have a particularly good relationship, are also keeping a close eye on Andreas Schjelderup. There are rumours that Liverpool were present at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Friday night, but Sporten.com have not been able to confirm this.

The road so far:

Transfermarkt has increased its valuation to €20 million, up from €14 million before Christmas. That’s higher than ever, but still a little low. Should a bid of a little size come in for Andreas Schjelderup, it will be difficult for José Mourinho to block.

There are no Norwegian men’s players in Barcelona, but on the women’s side, on the other hand, it looks different. Norway’s national team players Ingrid Syrstad Engen was and Caroline Graham Hansen is a regular part of the first eleven.