🇵🇪 Sergio Peña has been a key presence in Malmö’s midfield

Sergio Peña has established himself as a solid presence at the heart of Malmö’s midfield.

The Peruvian international’s career path to Sweden has seen him go through a fair few places. He came through Allianza Lima’s youtha academy and was quickly signed by Granada, who let him stay in Peru with a couple of loans. He finally moved to Spain in 2017, but did not see too much game time and was loaned out to Tondela the following season. A successful spell in Portugal earned him a permanent move to FC Emmen in the Eredivisie, whose eventual relegation paved the way for Malmö to swoop in.

Peña had a decent start to life in Sweden as he won the title half a season after getting there, but he unlocked a new level of performance when Henrik Rydström took charge of the club in 2023. The Swedish coach’s fluid attacking style of play has attracted a lot of global attention with the young forwards getting a lot of hype, but Peña quietly started all but one league match in their title-winning campaign.

He excelled in a defensive midfield role where his responsibilities included helping build up and going on to progress the ball with his passing before holding down his side’s rest defense in the heart of midfield. Malmö have not changed their style of play in the early days of the 2024 season either, so Peña should go on to have another great campaign.

By Neel Shelat