'My degree shows what footballers can achieve'

Pelle Mattsson joined Norwich from Danish Superliga side Silkeborg last year [Getty Images] Norwich City's Pelle Mattsson said his degree in financial management was proof players "can achieve things outside of football". The 25-year-old midfielder began studying before joining the Championship Canaries from Danish Superliga side Silkeborg last year, and said he studied in his spare time when not on first-team duty. Mattsson, who has made 44 appearances for the club in all competitions, has since started a postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship with the PFA Business School. "We're not only footballers, we're also human beings," he told BBC Radio Norfolk. "As a footballer you spend most of your time in your flat. After training you get home early and I was maybe playing a bit of video games - a lot of footballers do that. "I wanted to do something different. My mum always used to say if you want to do something you have to do it 100%. "I started the financial management academy back in Denmark. It's a two-year academy profession, now I'm done so it's nice. For me, it was such a good thing to do to switch off from football." 'Cool feeling' Mattsson said he completed the final exam of his financial management degree in Norwich's team hotel ahead of last month's 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Cardiff City. He said: "I want to show you can do that as a footballer, it's not impossible. You can still achieve things outside football. "For me that's been an important part of my life, learning new stuff, diving in and doing something else other than football. "I want to spend the time I have really wisely. I chose to do that with studying and it's been such a good process. I'm really happy I did it. "When you graduate, you have that really cool feeling. You're proud of yourself that you've done something and sometimes I had to dig deep [to complete the course]." Latest Norwich City news and analysis