Arriving at Manchester United as a back-up to Ryan Giggs, Jesper Blomqvist was tipped for big things at Old Trafford. While the Swedish midfielder struggled to perform in Italy with AC Milan and Parma after leaving his homeland, Sir Alex Ferguson was desperate to bring him to the club. In the end, as he often did, Ferguson got his wish as Blomqvist arrived for a cool £4.4million in 1998.
Blomqvist's career up until that point had, largely, included short stints at several different sides, but there was a feeling that he could certainly offer something at United.
Given that the Sweden international was behind Giggs in the pecking order at Old Trafford, he wasn't expected to make too many appearances during the 1998-99 campaign. The midfielder was brought in as cover, but he ended up featuring much more frequently than initially predicted.
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Ferguson, speaking after Blomqvist's arrival, admitted that he was persistent in his quest to bring the midfielder to Old Trafford - even after being unsuccessful on two occasions.
"I tried to buy him from AC Milan a year ago, only to be told that he was going to Parma on loan. I had another go in December then another in March, but without any luck," Ferguson said.
"I asked again at the end of the season but had to wait until this month before getting the go-ahead at last. Usually, folk get fed up when I keep going on at them and give in, but it took a bit longer with Jesper. It's worth it, though, because the lesson from last season was that we had to strengthen the squad."
Giggs featured on 41 occasions in the Treble season and registered 10 goals and four assists. With this in mind, then, the fact that Blomqvist made 38 appearances for Ferguson's side was - and still is - somewhat surprising. Despite racking up four assists, his goal return was disappointing. He scored his only goal for the club in a 4–1 away win against Everton in October 1998.
While Blomqvist's contribution in front of goal was lacking, he still featured in enough games to win a Premier League winner's medal in his debut campaign with the Reds. Not only that, but the Swede also received an FA Cup winner's medal, despite being an unused substitute in the final against Newcastle United.
In the Champions League final four days later, with both Paul Scholes and Roy Keane suspended after collecting bookings against Juventus in the semi-final second leg, Blomqvist would get his chance as he started on the left wing against Bayern Munich, with David Beckham coming inside to partner Nicky Butt in the middle and Giggs moving over to the right flank.
Keane actually blamed Blomqvist for the caution he received in Turin, with United's captain of the opinion that a poor pass from the Swede forced him into making an unnecessary challenge.
"Roy Keane blamed me for the pass I gave to him, which led to him being booked and suspended from the final," Blomqvist told The Athletic in 2020. "It wasn’t the best ball in the world, but he had a bad first touch which lost possession.
"It’s to his credit that he then had one of the greatest games of his career, but he was shouting at me in the dressing room after. He was so angry and saying, ‘It’s your fucking fault that I’m going to miss the final’. I thought he was mad at me for a long time!
"That was the way he worked. Things were never his fault. I’ve seen Roy since and I can laugh now. We didn’t talk about that incident and I’ve changed my opinion, but at the time I didn’t care much for his attitude. He went on about it for weeks and it became a bit of a joke in the dressing room."
Blomqvist, despite going close to scoring in the final, struggled to have the desired impact on the clash and was eventually replaced by Teddy Sheringham, who scored United's equaliser before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's winner.
For Blomqvist, he had not enjoyed the individual campaign that he was hoping for, but he was still able to call himself a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup winner at the end of the season. The midfielder, after making close to 40 appearances, was tipped to kick on after the final in Barcelona, but things didn't go to plan.
Shortly after the historic comeback against Bayern, Blomqvist suffered a serious knee injury. The final in May 1999 would prove to be his last ever appearance for United, with the Swede not kicking a ball in either of the following two seasons.
His time away from the pitch allowed him to partake in other actives - one of which saw him do media work for the club's in-house television channel, MUTV. While there was probably an expectation that he would be utilised as a pundit to give his opinion on United matches, he actually went on to present his own cookery show - 'Cooking With Jesper'.
While Blomqvist was a popular member of the squad - and his cookery show was, by all accounts, quite an enjoyable watch - United opted against renewing his contract when it expired. His injuries troubles meant that he was ultimately unable to prove his worth, despite the club keeping him around on a week-to-week deal at Old Trafford for a period of time.
Ferguson was able to persuade then Everton manager Walter Smith to offer Blomqvist a short-term contract at Goodison Park, from November 2001 until the end of the campaign. However, the midfielder continued to struggle with injuries and was moved on by David Moyes in June 2002.
He had spells with Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic after leaving the Toffees, but Blomqvist never managed to rediscover the form that earned him a move to United. Again struggling with injury, the midfielder soon returned to his native Sweden.
Blomqvist originally retired in 2005, but that would not be the end of his playing career. For a variety of reasons - including a lack of available first-team players - the Swede was still occasionally playing in 2010. However, he made the decision to officially retire, again, in 2012 as he began to focus on the next stage of his life.
Despite initiating studies in commerce, his passion was cooking. Having presented a cookery show on MUTV, it is somewhat unsurprising that he has moved into the hospitality industry in recent years, opening his own pizzeria near Stockholm.
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