Oscar Bobb (born 12 July 2003) is a Norwegian footballer currently playing as a forward for Manchester City.
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Oscar Bobb[1] | ||
Date of birth | (2003-07-12) 12 July 2003 (age 19) | ||
Place of birth | Oslo, Norway[2] | ||
Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Manchester City | ||
Number | 52 | ||
Youth career | |||
0000–2015 | Lyn | ||
2017–2019 | Vålerenga | ||
2019– | Manchester City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2022– | Manchester City | 0 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2019 | Norway U16 | 12 | (1) |
2020 | Norway U17 | 1 | (0) |
2021 | Norway U18 | 9 | (3) |
2022– | Norway U19 | 4 | (0) |
2022– | Norway U21 | 2 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 January 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 September 2022 |
Born in Oslo, Bobb played for Lyn at youth level. In 2013, he began being linked with Portuguese club Porto, after performing well at a youth tournament in Algarve.[3] Porto reached out to Bobb's mother, Turid Gunnes [no], to convince the young footballer to sign with them, even going as far as to pay for the two of them to visit the club in Porto.[3] In October 2015, Gunnes moved to Portugal on her own, before signing documentation in November of the same year for Bobb to be enrolled in the Portuguese Football Federation.[3]
Despite the documentation being rejected by FIFA in January 2016, Bobb and his mother remained in Porto, and in January 2017 he attempted to sign with Escola de Futebol Hernâni Gonçalves.[3] However, FIFA were not convinced that Bobb's mother had moved to Portugal of her own volition, to pursue an acting career, nor that the Escola de Futebol Hernâni Gonçalves were independent from Porto, and refused Bobb an international transfer certificate.[3][4]
The case reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who sided with FIFA, and Bobb was told to return to Norway.[3] He would go on to sign for fellow Oslo-based club Vålerenga.[3]
Bobb joined Premier League side Manchester City in July 2019.[5] In October of the same year, he was named by English newspaper The Guardian as the best young talent at Manchester City of his age group.[6]
After a relatively slow start, compared to other youth players brought in at the same time, Bobb cemented his place in Manchester City's under-23 side, notching a number of assists in his first full season.[7] As a reward for his fine form for the reserve side, Bobb was named on the Manchester City bench for the first time, in an FA Cup third round tie against Swindon Town on 7 January 2022, though he did not feature.[8][9]
Comfortable on the ball, and described by Manchester City as a "incredibly technically gifted midfielder", Bobb has been compared to Argentine football legend Lionel Messi for his style of play.[10]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Manchester City U21 | 2020–21 | — | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
2021–22 | — | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
Manchester City | 2021–22 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Manchester City F.C. – current squad | |
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