Search icon

Football

01st Aug 2018

Bayern Munich prodigy to declare for Ireland underage team

Robert Redmond

He can play for three different countries.

Ryan Johansson looks set to play for the Republic of Ireland at underage level. The 17-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder was born in Luxembourg and has represented Sweden already at underage level. Johansson’s father is from Sweden and he qualifies for Ireland through his mother, Christine McCarthy from Mullingar in Co. Westmeath.

According to a report in The Times, the highly rated youngster will join-up with the Ireland under-18 team in September, after he was scouted by the Ireland under-16 boss Paul Osam.

Johansson is currently with Bayern as they continue their pre-season preparations in the United States.

He made his first appearance for the German champions against Manchester City in Miami last weekend, and made his first start in a 2-0 win over Juventus last week.

Johansson is a midfielder but came on for Bayern at right-back. The 17-year-old joined the Bavarian club from FC Metz in France in 2017. He was part of the Bayern team that won the German under-17 Bundesliga title last season.

Although he still has a long way to go, and he could still end up playing for Sweden, Johansson’s decision to join up with the Ireland squad is encouraging. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops over the next few seasons.

WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?