When Indian poultry giants Venky’s bought Blackburn Rovers, they promised plenty of high profile signings, and on paper re-uniting the Olsson twins sounds like headline stuff. Nope we’re not talking about Hollywood child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley (yes we know they are Olsen with an e), but Swedish internationals Marcus and Martin.
Jokes aside, 23-year old Swedish winger Marcus Olsson joins the Lancashire club on a free transfer from Halmstads BK. Martin and Marcus had both landed on English shore 7 years ago as 16-year olds, and while Martin had impressed the Blackburn hierarchy, Marcus was shipped back home to continue his footballing education.
Marcus made the move up from childhood club Högaborgs to Halmstads four years ago, featuring 139 times. His progress over the last year has been exceptional, earning him a national call-up for the very first time, and Marcus made his debut against Bahrain this very month.
Marcus has signed a 2½ year contract with Blackburn and is seen as a possible long term replacement for 30-year old Norwegian Morten Gamst Pedersen. Pedersen has been at Blackburn for 8 seasons now, featuring 300 times for the club. It will be interesting to see though whether he stays on with Blackburn next season should they drop down to the Championship.
(TheSportsCampus)
