Marcus Berg

Youth years

Berg started to play for a local club Torsby IF in 2002. After that, he moved to IFK Velen in 2003. He also had an ambition to join Manchester United at the age of 19.

IFK Goteborg

After spending two years in the youth team, in the season 2005, Berg was promoted to the regular squad and played for IFK Goteborg in the Allsvenskan. During the time playing for IFK Goteborg, he played alongside his older brother Jonatan.

Berg played for IFK Goteborg until the 2007 summer and put forth an attracting performance throughout his final season, as he maintained a high scoring efficiency throughout the league matches. Goteborg won the league that season and Berg received a standing ovation upon leaving the field after the 5–0 away victory over Kalmar FF where Berg scored, which was his last for the club because of his suspension for the game against Djurgardens IF.

Groningen

On 10 August 2007, Dutch side FC Groningen signed Berg for a reported £2.5 million to replace the departing AFC Ajax-bound Luis Suarez.

Berg had a good debut season in the Netherlands. Although he was not the top scorer in the Eredivisie in 2007–08, he scored 18 goals for Groningen, helping the Dutch outfit to a seventh-place finish.

In the 2008–09 season, Groningen remained top of the Eredivisie table after five games played. Berg had a good display as well. He managed to score 13 goals in 15 matches. He also scored four goals in a December game against Roda JC.

Hamburg

On 17 July 2009, Hamburger SV confirmed that Berg had signed a five-year contract with the club. The official FC Groningen website mentioned it was a record fee paid for a Groningen player. Dagblad van het Noorden, a Dutch newspaper, stated that Berg swapped clubs for €10.5 million. The contract also mentioned that a friendly match will be played between Groningen and Hamburg in the summer of 2010 or 2011 in the Euroborg, the main stadium of Groningen. Although initially the fee of €9.5 million was too high for Hamburg, Berg's desire of moving to Bundesliga persuaded Groningen to complete the transfer. In his first Bundesliga game for Hamburg, playing at home against Borussia Dortmund, Berg scored his first goal for the club in the 72nd minute, just 182 seconds after coming off the bench, a record in the club's history. Despite the promising start, his debut season in the Bundesliga would not become a success, with Berg only scoring three additional goals in 30 appearances.

PSV Eindhoven

On 17 July 2010, PSV Eindhoven and Hamburger SV agreed a loan deal with the result that Berg plays for PSV Eindhoven the 2010–11 season.

Return to Hamburg

After returning from his loan spell at PSV, Berg only made 13 appearances the 2011–12 Bundesliga due to injuries and continued lack of form, scoring once. On 9 November 2012, Hamburger SV Athletic supervisor Frank Arnesen stated that the club had to sell five players to raise funds after having invested heavily in new players in the previous summer (including Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart). One of these five players was said to be Marcus Berg. After these news, Berg was linked with a return to his former club IFK Goteborg.

Panathinaikos

On 4 July 2013, it was revealed that Berg had travelled to Athens, in order to sign with Panathinaikos. On 8 July 2013, Panathinaikos announced that Berg had signed a contract with the team for four years. On 18 August 2013, in his debut appearance, Berg scored his first goal with Panathinaikos, as his team won the game against Panetolikos. On the first derby of the year against PAOK FC, Berg scored Panathinaikos' goal and lost a penalty, as his team lost with a score of 2–1. On 2 March 2014, Berg was the MVP in the 3–0 away victory against Olympiacos with one goal and one assist for Danijel Pranjic. This was the biggest away victory in the history of the Eternal Rivals. The following week, he scored a hat-trick when Panathinaikos defeated Aris 4–1 at home.

On 26 April 2014, in the Greek Cup final against rivals PAOK, Berg scored a hat-trick, leading Panathinaikos to a 4–1 victory, who won the Greek Cup as they had done in 2010. On 11 January 2015, Berg scored his second hat-trick in 5-0 home win against Ergotelis in the Superleague Greece. On 26 January 2015, Marcus signed a one-year extension contract, until 2018 On 8 March, at Panathinaikos-PAOK meeting, Marcus scored his third hat-trick in 4-3 home win. On 30 March 2015, after 2 and a half years, Marcus scores his 7th international goal on friendly match against Iran.

On 31 August 2015, Panathinaikos rivals PAOK offered to €2 million for Berg, but the “Greens” turned it down as SDNA reported. Panathinaikos rejected a bid from PAOK, however Marseille also tried to complete a move for the Swedish striker on the deadline date. According to SDNA sources, Marseille enquiried Panathinaikos over Berg, however they were put off by the high Panathinaikos's demands.

On 6 September 2015, Berg was left frustrated as he did not start in the line-up for the game against Russia. Sweden lost 1-0 at the hands of Russia with Berg making his appearance for only 30 minutes on the pitch as he started from the bench. Swedish press criticised this decision and Berg demanded first team football in the National Team after the final whistle.“Ola Toivonen is a kind of a different player than me and this decision has been taken. But it's pretty clear that I want to play as I'm in a decent form,” the Panathinaikos striker underlined straight after the game. Berg has been improved after the injury he picked with Sweden in the international game for Euro 2016 qualifying against Liechtenstein and he is likely to be back ahead of PAOK derby. He is getting better and better in Panathinaikos's trainings and there is a slight chance to be in the squad to face PAS Giannina on Monday 19th, 2015. However, the chances to take part in this game are very slim, but the Swedish striker will certainly be available for the derby against PAOK at Toumba which follows next week. On 7 November 2015, he scored the winning goal in the 10th day of the Greek Super League match against Atromitos, It was his 50th goal with the club in all competitions. On 6 December 2015, rumours stated that Spanish manager of Marseille (and former of Olympiakos) Michel wants to sign Marcus Berg in January, to strengthen his team's attacking line.Michel is a big admirer of the Swedish forward and already tried to capture him for the french club last August. However, an amazing offer has to be made for Panathinaikos to consider selling his best player.

Style of play

Berg is renowned for his heading ability, first touches, and being able to shoot and pass with both his right and left foot. He is also known for his tactical dribbles and scoring from unusual angles. Berg scored 15 goals in his first season in the Eredivisie, having only played 25 matches due to having a back-strain injury. In his second season for Groningen, he scored 13 goals in the first 15 matches and was by then the second highest goalscorer in the league. He also showed his scoring ability in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which he scored a record-breaking seven goals in four matches. His excellent performance earned him the player of the tournament award.

Career statistics

(* Includes Svenska Cupen, KNVB Cup, Eredivisie Play-offs and DFB-Pokal)

(** Includes Royal League, UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup, Greek Superleague Play-offs and UEFA Europa League)

Honours

Individual