From 1990s heroes to current stars, a look at some of the high-profile players from Sweden to have featured in the Premier League and how they fared…
Scandinavian players usually adapt quickly to English football and have traditionally performed well in the Premier League.
Over 200 footballers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden have featured in the competition since its inception in 1992 and many of those have been fan favourites.
More than 70 of those hail from Sweden. Here, a look at some of the best and most famous footballers from the Scandinavian nation to feature in England’s top flight…
A right winger who won over 100 caps for Sweden in a 15-year international career between 1993 and 2008, Niclas Alexandersson spent seven seasons in English football.
Alexandersson joined Sheffield Wednesday in 1997 and spent three years at Hillsborough. A fan favourite, he was sold to Everton after the Owls’ relegation in 2000 and was at Goodison Park for four seasons, including a brief period on loan at second-tier West Ham in 2003/04.
Yasin Ayari (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Born in Sweden to parents from Tunisia and Morocco, Yasin Ayari made his Sweden debut in January 2023 and the midfielder joined Brighton from AIK later that same year.
After spells out on loan at Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers, Ayari went on to feature regularly for the Seagulls in the 2024/25 season.
Tottenham beat Barcelona to the signing of Lucas Bergvall in the summer of 2024 and the Swedish midfielder has quickly shown his class at a young age.
Amid an injury crisis at Spurs, Bergvall has had a run in the team and has already produced performances of maturity way beyond his years. He scored his first goal for Tottenham in the League Cup against Liverpool in January 2025 and turned 19 in early February.
Jesper Blomqvist (Manchester United, Everton, Charlton)
Jesper Blomqvist was an important player for Manchester United in the club’s treble-winning season in 1998/99, featuring in 38 games and scoring once.
The midfielder even started in the 1999 Champions League final, but would never play again for United after an injury nightmare over the next couple of seasons. He went on to play for Everton and very briefly at Charlton Athletic before returning to Sweden in 2003.
