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Ryan Johansson previously played for Bayern Munich. firo Sportphoto/Jürgen Fromme
hot prospect

'Certainly one to keep an eye on' - Praise for Sevilla youngster poised to make Ireland U21 debut

Ryan Johansson has been included in Jim Crawford’s squad after he was declared eligible to play following clearance from Fifa.

JIM CRAWFORD IS excited about the prospect of finally getting to see Ryan Johansson line out for Ireland U21s, after a long-running saga over the player’s eligibility was finally resolved recently.

Born in Luxembourg to an Irish mother and a Swedish father, he was eligible for all three countries.

Johansson represented Luxembourg at a young age, and also lined out for Ireland U19s in friendlies, but the fact that he didn’t hold an Irish passport proved a stumbling block.

However, a recent change to Fifa’s eligibility rules rendered Johansson available again, and the player has since declared: “My heart wanted to go with Ireland.”

Previously on the books at Bayern Munich, the midfielder signed a six-year deal with Sevilla last year.

He has spent this season playing in the Spanish second tier with their B team, though a hamstring injury has kept him out of action since December.

“I’d seen him play for the U19s and I thought he’d done really well, he’s certainly one to keep an eye on,” says Crawford. “He had that move from Bayern Munich to Sevilla, which is phenomenal in this day and age, to get a six-year deal for someone so young.

“But he’s a fantastic fella and he’s somebody that I’ve spoken to — about a year and a half ago, I reached out to him to see how he was getting on and how he was enjoying his football. And it dawned on me there when I first got the job that he would be somebody that I’d love involved in the group. So I rang him and he was very excited about it, and we started getting the process underway and I have to take my hat off to everyone in the association in the background, they got it done very quick and he was delighted.

“And I’m sure you saw his interview, how passionate he is to play with Ireland, and that’s exactly the same type of tone I got from him over the phone, that he’d love to play for Ireland and put on that green jersey.

“He’s an exceptionally bright boy, a very good footballer and I’m excited to work with him, too.

“There was a little bit of doubt about his fitness but I rang him and we had a long conversation about it. He said he was fine, because he had a hamstring issue but he’s fine now and our medical team has spoken to their medical team and we’re good to go, I’m looking forward to meeting him on Thursday.”

Johansson is not the only La Liga youngster to earn a first call-up to the Ireland U21 side, with John Joe Patrick Finn also included in the panel announced today.

The 17-year-old midfielder, who has already made a handful of first-team appearances for Getafe, had attracted interest from England and Spain, but was eligible to represent Ireland through his late Mayo-born father.

And earlier this year, it was confirmed that Finn was keen to represent Ireland.

“For the last camp we had discussions with his mom and the club,” Crawford explains. “And obviously he hurt his ankle and missed out on that camp, but he’s ready to come into this camp, which is great, but the only thing is he’s got exams, he’s 17-years-old, so it’s a conversation that we’ll have with him when he comes in, to sort of see where he’s at with his exams because certainly myself and the rest of the staff would be for education.

“So if he comes in, trains, plays a game and then he can go home and prepare for his exams for university. But it was something that just came across my desk yesterday from his mom, so it’s certainly something that we’ll look into.

“Other than that he’s fit and he’s looking forward to coming in.”

For the upcoming Marbella-based friendlies, Crawford named 26 players in total in his squad, while he cited Will Smallbone, Nathan Collins, Michael Obafemi, Ryan Cassidy and Evan Ferguson as players who missed out due to injury and fitness-related concerns. 

Fixtures – International Friendlies (all times are Irish times):

Switzerland v Republic of Ireland, May 30, KO 11:00, Dama de Noche Football Centre, Marbella, Spain (Live on Premier Sports 1/ FreeSports)

Australia v Republic of Ireland, June 2, KO 12:00, Marbella Football Centre, Marbella, Spain. (Live on Premier Sports 1/ FreeSports)

Republic of Ireland v Denmark, June 5, KO 17:00, Dama de Noche Football Centre, Marbella, Spain. (To be shown at 21.30pm on Premier Sports 1)

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