'Forgotten' Irish star Ryan Johansson has made his return to football with Sevilla's 'B' team.
The former Bayern Munich prodigy was born in Luxembourg to Swedish and Irish parents. After representing all three countries at youth level, Johansson declared his allegiance to Ireland in 2021.
Since declaring for Ireland, Johansson has struggled for gametime. In Spain, he plays mostly for Sevilla's 'B' team, while a move to the dutch league didn't result in any meaningful gametime. Because of this, Johansson lost his place in the Irish u21 squad.
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Thankfully, the youngster is back on the field making appearances for the Sevilla reserve team.And to cap things off, Johansson recently played 30 minutes in a friendly for the Sevilla first team.
Johansson's decision to declare for Ireland was a long time coming and one that he had to fight tooth and nail to get over the line.
The Luxembourg FA appealed to FIFA to stop Johannsson declaring for Ireland, claiming that he had represented Luxembourg before he had an Irish passport and therefore shouldn't be allowed to declare for Ireland.
The FAI and Ryan's family appealed to FIFA although the international football organisation wouldn't budge on their position, with the player's agent stating that he would play for Sweden instead. However, FIFA have since changed eligibility rules and Johansson was allowed to officially declare for Ireland last year.
Since then, the youngster has flown under the radar. Although highly rated at Sevilla, the midfielder has yet to feature for the first team since signing a six-year-deal in 2020, and has instead been playing for the reserve team.
A loan move to Fortuna Sittard yielded just six Eredivisie appearances, with the midfielder returning to Spain last season.
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