Following Wayne Rooney‘s admission that his boyhood football hero was former Everton winger Anders Limpar, we salute some of the Premier League’s old Scandinavian stars who might have slipped your memory.
10 Anders Limpar
Rooney’s hero played for both Arsenal and Everton. The tricky winger convinced Joe Royle to part with £1.7 million in 1994. Limpar now owns the pun-tastic Limp Bar sports bar in Stockholm.
9 Gunnar Halle
Halle played for Oldham Athletic, Leeds United and Bradford City. He is currently on the coaching staff at Lillestrom.
8 Jesper Blomqvist
The forgotten man of the 1999 Champions League-winning side. Blomqvist spent three years at Old Trafford, but hardly played through injuries and poor form. The Swede is now retired from football after unsuccessful spells at Everton and Charlton.
7 Torben Piechnik
One of English football’s great Scandinavian flops. Signed by Liverpool on the back of a huge over-performance at Euro 1992, Piechnik sooned proved he was not up to scratch in the newly formed Premier League. Now works as an estate agent, apparently.
6 and 5 Erland Johnsen and Jakob Kjeldberg
Before Chelsea’s multi-national dressing room really took off there was their Scandinavian centre-back pairing of Norwegian Johnsen and Dane Kjeldberg.Both joined Chelsea in 1989 and left in 1998 and 1997 respectively. Johnsen has moved into coaching while Kjelberg is a TV host.
4 Michael Stensgaard
The Danish keeper never actually played for Liverpool during his time at the club. He did become famous during his time at Anfield though, by picking up a nasty shoulder injury while ironing at home.
3 Jan Age Fjortoft
Fjortoft played for Swindon, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United. He had an excellent scoring record in England, especially for Sheffield United. He is currently the manager of Lillestrom in his native Norway.
2 Tomas Brolin
Brolin came to Leeds United in 1994 in a £4.5 million move. The Swede never reached the lofty heights he had reached at Parma and instead concentrated on a career in pie-eating. It is quite apt then that he is now owns a restaurant in Sweden.
1 Stig Inge Bjornebye
Stocky left-back Bjornebye played for Liverpool for eight years before joining Blackburn Rovers in 2000. He is now the manager of IK Start in Norway.
[Rob Parker]