Hugo Larsson has not signed an A-contract with Malmö FF yet. Still, he is the name of many’s lips after the start of the Swedish Cup’s group game. The midfielder jumped into the first match against Gais and then had to start against Ängelholm, before names like Sergio Peña and Sebastian Nanasi.
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The journey has gone fast for the talent, who a year ago was captain of the U17 team and last summer took over that bandage in the U19 team. His first A-team appearance came during the training matches in Marbella a month ago.
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– He is a player who has many skills needed to play at the highest level. He is young, but for me he is the only young player in Malmö, because everyone else is not young. If you are 20, you are not young. 18-19 year old players playing in the Champions League, do not come in and come out, says Milos Milojevic and continues:
– For me, we have Hugo who is a player who is young, who needs to develop. What I like about him is that he comes with that attitude from U19 and is not happy with training with the A-team – he comes and wants to take a place. He wants to fight with “AC” (Anders Christiansen) and Erdal (Rakip) and all the older guys to take their place.
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– Many come and are happy with life, or are happy to train with the A-team. It is very difficult in the competition we have, to take any playing time or place from an older player. I like young players and I like to give them the chance, but the level of the experienced players is so high here that it’s not just saying “you play there because you are young”. When I choose the team, I do not look at an app or a social security number – I look at what you have done in training and matches every day. It’s that simple, but as I say, Hugo has great potential and it is our and his responsibility to develop that potential into a top player.
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The MFF coach praises Larsson’s passing play, game understanding and ability to change tempo.
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– It’s a little different than all the other players who came up young. He can play on a gear and then send the ball to increase the speed a little more. It is a quality that is needed at the highest level in Europe, not just in the Allsvenskan, says Milojevic.
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He is asked which famous player Hugo Larsson can be compared to:
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– It is difficult. What I see of him now is like a Kevin De Bruyne type. A modern “ten”, which is not ten but maybe “eight” / ten. A “power-ten” who is good at playing football but also has physical qualities that allow him to play at the highest level. To become a real Kevin De Bruyne, he must start scoring goals and assists, and become an important player here. But it’s like I say a process, we believe in him and hope he believes in this. He gets our support. But as I said with everyone, you have to deserve your playing time, and he deserved to play against Ängelholm, says Milojevic.
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MFF ends the group game with a decisive match against IFK Värnamo on Saturday.
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