This week we bring back a classic format, essential to Driblab. An article that will help you discover (or get to know more in depth) some of the best prospects in Scandinavian football.
This time, we haven’t set an age range, but rather focused on players who are still in their footballing youth and have the potential to make the leap to higher-level leagues.
Here are five names.
Markus Karlsson – Hammarby – 2004 (21)
Karlsson’s passes and ball carries may not stand out for their elegance, but they certainly do for their effectiveness. The Swedish midfielder’s technique is straightforward, without gimmicks. He is an ideal player to bypass pressure and help his team progress.
The advantages he gets from using his body — placing it between the ball and the opponent — and the way he uses his arms make him hard to stop when carrying the ball forward. So far in the Allsvenskan, only seven central midfielders have better numbers than his 4.09 progressive carries per game.
As a passer, he mixes security with risk. Nobody matches his 90.4% passing accuracy, and only three central midfielders average more passes per game than Karlsson (54.2). He passes a lot, and he passes well.
His passing efficiency is rooted in his constant good body orientation when receiving, and the technique he uses to control the ball (which foot he uses to receive, which part of the foot he chooses to make contact with, etc.). No player in the Allsvenskan has attempted more passes under heavy pressure than the Swede (424). The second on that list trails him by 66 passes. Karlsson misses only one in every ten of these passes.
However, he is not averse to risk. His teammates hand him the “hot potato” because they trust his effectiveness against pressing, but Karlsson also averages 4.16 line-breaking passes per game, the 10th highest in the league.
Bestfor Zeneli – Elfsborg – 2002 (22)
Zeneli is an attacking midfielder who frequently pops up at different heights and tends to drift wide, as he prefers to face the game. Unlike Karlsson, whose influence is felt more in the initial phases of play, Zeneli is more directly connected to offensive production.
Zeneli averages 0.1 expected assists (excluding set pieces), the 16th best figure among central midfielders in Sweden’s top flight. But he also registers 7.58 defensive actions per game, the 11th best mark in the Allsvenskan. This is where his all-round profile comes from.
Offensively, he is a player with natural dribbling ability in wide areas. Most of his danger comes from the left-hand side of the attack. His 2.35 chances created per game represent the highest figure in the league.
His physical profile is also promising. He covers plenty of ground, which allows him to appear all over the pitch. Only seven players run more than his 11.7 km per game. Moreover, his frequent high-intensity efforts explain his complete profile (with both offensive and defensive relevance).
Franculino Djú – FC Midtjylland – 2004 (21)
This is a recommendation Driblab makes with the aim of ensuring readers keep an eye on him, as the Danish Superliga has only just reached its fifth gameweek.
Djú is the striker of the moment in Scandinavia. Mainly because he does a bit of everything. He shoots a lot (2.86 shots per game, 5th best among strikers in the Danish league this season) because he constantly receives the ball in the box (6.73 touches in the opposition box, 3rd best). He scores many goals (11 in 28 matches) because he generates plenty of danger (0.38 expected goals per game, 8th best).
In the 5 league matches so far, Franculino Djú has already scored 6 goals from 2.8 xG. If we combine the last two seasons, he has scored 5.7 goals above expectation.
But beyond his role as a finisher, Djú also contributes to his team’s play. Last season, he was the 5th striker with the most completed line-breaking passes per game (2.24). In fact, 13.1% of his passes were of this type.
He has shown a promising ability to combine in the most complex areas of the pitch: the central zone and the edge of the box, where space is at its tightest.
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Clement Bischoff – Brøndby IF – 2005 (19)
Bischoff stood out at last summer’s U21 Euros for Denmark, where his teammate Noah Nartey — who could easily have made this list as well — also featured.
Bischoff is a medium-sized winger with a strong upper body that gives him explosive first steps, along with enough technical skill to make his dribbling truly effective. These two attributes make ball carrying his main weapon.
No winger in the 2024/25 Superliga averaged more progressive carries per game than his 4.82. This season, in 379 minutes played so far, he is averaging 5.94. He already looks ready for a higher level. Beyond progressing play, he also helps Brøndby settle in the opposition half with his 18.3 deep progressions (every time he carries the ball into the final fifth of the pitch).
Once he reaches those advanced areas, Bischoff connects with teammates with ease. He ranked 5th among wingers in chances created and key passes per game.
In short: Bischoff is the prototype of an attacker who can command a big transfer fee. A winger with powerful ball carrying and dribbling ability, but who also keeps his composure when it comes to finding teammates. And what happens if you add an outstanding physical profile to that mix?
Well, for starters, you get a winger who is highly effective in pressing. His OutPlay Metrics radar shows that Bischoff was the 4th winger least bypassed by opposition passes per game, and the 3rd least bypassed by opposition carries. His capacity to repeat high-intensity efforts (48.6 high-speed runs per game) means he is almost always engaged and rarely switched off or beaten when the action comes near him.
On top of that, Bischoff recorded the highest number of sprints per game among Superliga wingers (24.3), and covered the greatest sprinting distance (643.7 meters per game at sprinting speed). This meant that 6.31% of his total distance covered per game came at sprinting pace — the highest proportion among his peers.
Matias Siltanen – Djurgården – 2007 (18)
Siltanen is a holding midfielder who directs and organizes play at just 18 years old. In his first Allsvenskan season, he has already played more than 1,700 minutes.
The Finn combines three key qualities for his position: security, risk-taking in passing, and tackling ability.
In the Swedish league, only ten central midfielders have a better passing accuracy rate. Siltanen completes nearly 9 out of 10 passes. Only six average more progressive passes than the Finn (12.3). He also understands that a player in his role must find teammates between the lines. And he has the ability to do so, as shown by his 4.06 line-breaking passes per game, the 12th best figure among midfielders in the league.
Under pressure, he responds well. He completes 89.9% of his pressured passes, although that rate drops to 84.7% under heavy pressure.
Defensively, he is consistent. He ranks in the top 30% of midfielders for tackles per game (2.89), and he does so with great success (77.6% tackle success rate). He doesn’t have huge defensive volume because his team dominates possession in the Swedish league, but his 5.15 defensive actions per game are around average.
He is a player with high potential, but still needs this season and probably another one in Sweden before considering a step up.
