Andreas Schjelderup: From Lisbon Prospect to €30m Asset

Andreas Schjelderup is having the kind of World Cup that changes a career.

The Benfica winger arrived in the tournament as a highly regarded prospect. He may leave it as one of the most sought-after young attackers in Europe.

From Lisbon prospect to €30m asset

Schjelderup, 22, has been on scouting lists for some time, but his form over the past year has pushed him into a different bracket. Benfica now value him at around €30 million, according to TuttoMercatoWeb – roughly double what Club Brugge were ready to spend in January.

Back then, Brugge thought they were close. Parma did too. Their CEO, Federico Cherubini, has already admitted the club came near to closing a deal in the winter window before it slipped away.

Then came the turning point: a match-winning brace against Real Madrid. Two goals on a stage like that tend to rewrite market plans. José Mourinho responded by pulling Schjelderup off the market, and Benfica shut the door.

That decision looks smarter by the week.

Numbers that travel

Schjelderup is a left-footed right winger who can operate comfortably on either flank, cutting inside or going down the line with equal conviction. Last season he produced 10 goals and seven assists in 43 appearances across all competitions for Benfica – output that travels well across leagues and systems.

Those numbers have not gone unnoticed. Liverpool, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have been monitoring him closely. Now Milan and Como have joined the queue, sharpening Serie A’s interest in a player whose profile fits the modern wide-forward mold: direct, technical, decisive in the final third.

World Cup stage, rising stakes

If the club season put him on the radar, the World Cup has put him under the spotlight.

Coming off the bench, Schjelderup helped Norway turn a tight contest against Senegal into a 3-2 win that sealed their place in the last 16. It was the kind of cameo that excites recruitment departments – impact under pressure, energy late in games, the sense that something will happen when he receives the ball.

Each appearance now feels like an audition, not just for minutes with Norway, but for his next club.

Barcelona watching, player staying calm

His name has also been linked with Barcelona as a potential replacement for Marcus Rashford. That is the level of conversation he has played himself into: not just promising winger, but possible solution for one of Europe’s giants.

Schjelderup, though, has been careful not to get carried away. Asked about the rumours, he kept his response measured: “It would be fantastic if those rumours were true, but at the moment I don’t know anything concrete,” he said.

Clubs will have heard both parts of that sentence. The ambition. And the realism.

Benfica hold the cards

With his value climbing and his list of admirers stretching across England, Spain and Italy, Benfica find themselves in a familiar position: holding a prized asset with multiple serious suitors.

They will not rush. They do not need to. A €30m valuation, strong World Cup performances and a bidding field that keeps expanding give the Portuguese champions exactly what every selling club wants in a summer window.

Options. And leverage.