How Brommapojkarna produced Viktor Gyökeres, Dejan Kulusevski, and Lucas Bergvall

Updated: 24 Nov, 2025 • 0 • min read

Table of Contents

How Brommapojkarna produced Viktor Gyökeres, Dejan Kulusevski, and Lucas Bergvall

Photo: Getty Images

IF Brommapojkarna - a club based in the Stockholm suburbs - have quietly become one of Europe's most prolific talent factories.

Among its alumni are Tottenham Hotspur's Dejan Kulusevski, Borussia Dortmund's Daniel Svensson, and the latest headline-maker: Viktor Gyökeres, the new striker.

The Roots of a £63.5m Star

Whilst Gyökeres is now Sweden's top footballing export, his journey was far from conventional.

Until age 15, he was playing for regional club IFK Aspudden-Tellus - not considered elite by Swedish standards.

When Gyökeres arrived at Brommapojkarna, he played just one year in the academy before stepping up to the senior side, debuting at 16.

He would go on to score 25 goals in 67 matches, catching the eye of Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018.

Speaking to the BBC, Brommapojkarna's academy manager Erik Nathorst Windahl explained:

It's really rare that a player can be at a smaller club [until that age] and then go to a big academy.

Maybe he would have been even better if he came to us earlier than he did. But on the other hand, he was the top scorer and got all the passes when he played in his club.

He played one year in our academy before he went to the senior team, because he was mentally ready to play against men when he was still a boy.

When he came here, he was a good striker but when he left I think he had the whole package.

Gyökeres struggled to adapt in England initially, spending loan spells at St. Pauli, Swansea City, and finally Coventry City, where his goal-scoring truly reignited.

But it was at Sporting CP in Portugal that he fully exploded with 97 goals in 102 games.

How Brommapojkarna Does It Differently

Brommapojkarna aren't a traditional powerhouse as they don't have huge attendances or deep finances.

What they do have is Europe's largest youth academy: over 4,500 players spread across 250 youth teams.

The club's academy setup is hyper-integrated, with under-17 and under-19 coaches working alongside the senior team staff.

The same coaches often lead sessions at multiple levels to create smooth transitions for youth players into the first team.

Local First, Global Later

What's unique about Brommapojkarna is that nearly all of their talent comes from within Stockholm and its immediate surroundings.

Kulusevski, Gyökeres, and Lucas Bergvall - all recent Swedish internationals - grew up just minutes from the club's training grounds.

It's rare that we bring players in from different cities in Sweden, so when I saw Barcelona bring players from Asia, we brought a player in who was 15 minutes away by bus.

When Nathorst Windahl looks around the stands during matches, he doesn't see crowds. He sees scouts.

We don't have a lot of people in the stands, but we surely have a lot of scouts.

In some games, mainly in the academy, it's the mums, dads... and then scouts.

The Next Generation: Lucas Bergvall

After Gyökeres, the next big thing out of Brommapojkarna could well be Bergvall, the elegant midfielder who moved to Tottenham in 2024.

Starting at Brommapojkarna aged six, Bergvall progressed through the ranks for 11 years, helping the club win promotion before joining Djurgården and eventually Spurs.

His rise has made him a poster boy for Swedish football's new generation.

I think that he is the Swedish player that the younger boys from Sweden and Scandinavia should have on their walls, because he is going to be the best.

We are happy that we have helped him from six years old to 17 to then be where he is today.

I don't like the word talent, but he was a talent from the day he was born.

Final Word

In the case of Gyökeres, Brommapojkarna didn't just polish a gem but they developed a complete striker, a future Premier League star, and the latest testament to their unparalleled academy model.

The most important thing for Viktor is to be in a club where he starts every game and where he can be Viktor Gyökeres and not just another player to impress the coach.

It's not ego, not at all, but I think that he chose clubs due to that strategy.

Now, with Gyökeres officially an Arsenal player, Gunners fans would do well to tip their hat to a little red-and-black club in Sweden - the place where it all began.

For any enquiries, please contact us here.