Orlando Pirates confirmed the signing of striker Sebastian Pedersen from Norwegian side Sogndal Fotball on Sunday, saying the 27-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the club holding an option to extend for a further season. The club said Pedersen joins Abdeslam Ouaddou’s squad as the Buccaneers prepare for a competitive campaign.
Social media jokes linking Pedersen and Erling Haaland as “cousins” lack factual support, but the pair share more than nationality: both were Norway youth team strikers during overlapping periods. Transfermarkt lists Pedersen as having been in the same Norway squad as Haaland on five occasions, three of which were UEFA European Under-19 qualification matches.
When selected for those youth games the two forwards rarely shared the pitch. The general pattern was that one player would replace the other during matches. Pedersen also has the versatility to play from the flanks, particularly on the left, though initial comments indicate Pirates intend to deploy him as a central striker.
The club profile described Pedersen as a one-touch finisher rather than a bulldozer and noted his progression through Norway’s junior national teams from U15 to U21. The announcement also stated he has recorded 51 goals in his last 117 matches.
Across his senior career Pedersen has 59 goals and nine assists in 166 club appearances, with the bulk of his minutes coming in Norway’s second-tier OBOS-ligaen. His top-flight record is limited: one goal in 12 Eliteserien appearances, spread over 275 minutes.
Pirates arrive at the signing with a clear need for consistent goals. Tshegofatso Mabasa departed and Evidence Makgopa and Yanela Mbuthuma alternated leading the line last season; Makgopa scored six goals and Mbuthuma five as the club won the Premiership. The piece that announced Pedersen suggested the recruit could address that shortfall and offered Pirates another opportunity to identify value in markets beyond Africa, as other clubs have done.
