Amancel. Christopher Niemann extended with IFK Norrköping.
Now Arnor Sigurdsson will persuade to do the same.
– I will speak to him. We want to keep him at any cost, says Neiman.
He was already the most famous footballer in Norrköping. When Christopher Niemann signed a new four-year deal with Beijing at the turn of the year, he went from beloved to almost beloved at Östergötland.
Norrköping was never out of the picture. We had open discussions, I looked for what would come from the outside, but then neither IFK nor I felt this was going to end. So there will be a bunch of New Years.
Now the rest of the profession will be in Beijing, right?
– yes. I hope to play until I’m 34. Then, of course, a lot can happen in four years. Maybe I’ll stop before that!? No, but I am very much looking forward to these four years.
That was the problem in Norrkoping
You’ve had two poor, underperforming seasons. Did this make you hesitate?
– we will. did not affect. Instead, I want to return Norrköping to where we were a few years ago. It’s been two difficult years. There was a lot of rotation with players, managers and everything. But now Glen Riddersholm has been given the chance to make his mark in pre-season and we have a lot of potential in this team.
How have the past few years been?
– heavy. My heart is with IFK Norrköping, as a player and supporter. I understand the frustration that has arisen among the supporters. In fact, I think we have good enough teams to finish higher in the table. But it has a lot to do with confidence, the mental thing. We had a lot of difficult results against ourselves, often in the last minutes, and then we fell into a mental slump that went on for a long time.
Launch a persuasion campaign
Do you currently have enough squad to challenge at the top?
We need two players. Partly to expand, but just as much to top it off. We have lost someone like Linus Wahlqvist, but also Victor Agardius and others. Of course, it must be filled, even if we bring in a player in Isak Sswewankambo.
Most of all in the team is Arnor Sigurdsson. The 23-year-old has been brilliant during the second half of the Allsvenskan, absolutely dominant, but is only on loan from CSKA Moscow until the summer.
– Then he comes out. He is undoubtedly one of the best players in Allsvenskan. What he did last year was absolutely amazing. I understand it’s hard to keep him, but we at Norrköping want to keep him at any cost. He is of course so good that he can play outside, but we want him to.
He was called late
Neyman is clear that he will launch a campaign of persuasion in Portugal.
– I will speak to him. He’s coming here with Iceland to play, right? First we have Arnor in the summer and then I hope Norrköping can have a good discussion with him about the future.
When Alexander Gerimjev and Simon Gustafsson withdrew their invitations to the January Tour, Christopher Nieman received a late invitation. The veteran is one of the few with solid national team experience on the squad, but he’s a little unsure about putting it into context.
– That’s a good question. I really don’t know. But if I get the chance to go with the national team, I thank you and accept. It’s fun here. Many new faces to get to know.