Sander Berge swapped Genk for Sheffield United in January 2020 and his performances in his first 12 months in England saw him linked with a move away from Bramall Lane.
Less than two weeks before the 2021 January window opened, the midfielder picked up an injury in the league tie against Manchester United, forcing him to spend more than four months on the sidelines.
The Blades were relegated from the Premier League and the Norway international has had a tough start to the season. After testing positive for Covid last August, he suffered a hamstring injury a month later.
These two setbacks, plus the injury suffered in December 2020, restricted his appearances in the last calendar year. Berge has regained his form after struggling for uch of 2021 and is now back with the national team.
“It’s a little bad luck. I came to England as a youngster, it was a completely different pace. I played a lot, then came Covid, everything shut down and I trained myself for 100 days. You don’t get treatment, no games or rhythm, just a constant training camp that I did for myself,” Berge told TV2.
“However, then the body probably broke down a bit. I was unlucky with the way the injury happened. It was worse than I expected and hoped. Then it was a battle to get back.
“I felt I had a lot of momentum. I had a year in the Premier League, learned to get to know the league, found my role and embraced our identity as a team. Getting an injury break then, and having to spend several months finding myself again, it was tough.”
Berge also detailed how he struggled physically after testing positive for Covid at the start of this season.
“I was knocked out. I could barely move. I struggled with the stairs and everything. It took 10-12 days before I could start to activate my body again. When I was back at Sheffield United it was a struggle to keep up with the rest of the team in training sessions. I really struggled,” he explained.
“There was no preseason when I was back from my illness. It was just ‘now there’s a match tomorrow, you’ve got to be ready again’. I’d been lying down for 14 days and half dead. Then it’s tough.”
“It comes with it [being doubted and written offer]. Football is fresh. You will be quickly forgotten if you do not play. You can be very hot one day and less good the other day. It is primarily about playing over time and getting calm and finding your role. “I haven’t had much of that.”
“But I have not become a worse player by playing in the Championship. It is a very tough league, many people talk about it as the toughest in the world, and you understand that when you have played there. Not the toughest as in that it is the best, but it is very hard to play every three days, everyone is fighting for points and it is tight and even. It makes you better even if the matches do not look like the most elegant.”
Impressing for Norway in March’s international break and helping Sheffield United return to the Premier League could open the doors for Berge to join a bigger club in the summer.
“In time, anything is possible. It’s just a matter of playing and staying healthy now, then many doors open,” he said, when responding to the question regarding his club future.
“We’ll just see when that time comes. The most important thing is just to work hard here, be part of the national team, play well and raise the level.”
