Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
Aron Johannsson looks set to be the latest U.S. Men’s National Team star to make a major move.
The forward’s current club, AZ Alkmaar, announced Tuesday that an agreement has been reached with German club Werder Bremen for the transfer of Johannsson. The 24-year-old forward has been left off AZ’s traveling roster as he is now free to negotiate personal terms with the Bundesliga club.
“It’s always nice to make the next step and to go to the Bundesliga, it’s one of the best leagues in the world,” Johannsson said. “In that perspective, it’s very nice, but it’s also mixed feelings. It’s a little sad to leave AZ, to leave my friends that I’ve had for the last two-and-a-half years. It’s a very exciting period ahead of me, and I just can’t wait to get started.
“Once they came and were interested, it was a pretty easy choice to decide to do it. I want to play for a better team in a better league. The Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world, so it’s a step in the right direction for me and, hopefully, it will go well.”Johannsson’s transfer ends his stay at AZ, which included 29 goals scored in 58 games played. Prior to joining AZ, Johannsson featured for Denmark’s AGF Aarhus and Iceland’s Fjölnir.
Internationally, Johannsson is coming off the USMNT’s Gold Cup run, where he earned four starts and scored a goal. In total, the forward has made 17 international appearances, scoring four times.
In moving to Germany, Johannsson joins recent Gold Cup teammates John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, Fabian Johnson and Alfredo Morales in the Bundesliga.
“My personal goals are to just to take one day at a time,” Johannsson said, “and hopefully in the coming weeks, start to play games and score goals for my new club.”
What do you think of Johannsson’s move? How do you see him faring at Werder Bremen? Think he is ready for the step up in competition?
Share your thoughts below.
This is the kind of club that I thought Jozy should go to from AZ and I think Serie A or La Liga is better suited to AJ’s style of play, but they never ask me. I hope this works out. At least he is going somewhere where they need players in his position so that he has an excellent chance of playing. I wouldn’t be surprised if about 4 months ago somnething similar to the following happened. Ernie Stewart’s office, the phone rings and Ernie answers. Ernie, this is Jurgen. Hey, how’s it going. Good, good. Hey, I see that Aron has come back from injury well and ir really scoring. Yeah, that’s right, we[‘re really happy with him. Well, you know, I’m looking to help out our players, as you well know. Do you think he’s ready for the Bundesliga now? Yeah, I can see him playing there, with the right club, of course and we would be willing to sell him for a good price. Okay, I’ll make some calls and get back to you. A couple of weeks later the phone rings again. Ernie, Jurgen here. My contacts tell me that Hamburg is going to be losing both its top strikers. I’ve talked to Aron and his agent and both think it would be a good move for him. I’ve talked to Hamburg’s GM and he thinks AJ is an intriguing prospect. You might want to give him a call, they seem willing to negotiate. Ernie–Say you got any recommendations on someone to replace him? Welll, you know Agudelo is keen to move to the EPL and he did play for a half season at Utrecht. If you could talk him into spending a couple of seasons with you to set him up for the EPL, he might be willing and he’s still young with potential. Then we got two intriguing other prospects. There’s a kid named Zardes who plays for LA and he has been showing well for us the last couple of months. Finally, there’s a college kid. Yeah, I know he isn’t even a pro yet, but he coul.d really be something. Name of Morris and he’s in the Seattle development system. I’ll send you more info on him and Zardes. Great, thanks,, I’ll look into it.
The owners at AZ must love Ernie Stewart. He picked up Jozy for next to nothing and then got 6 million pounds for him. According to another article on this, Hamburg is paying $7 million for AJ, who undoubtedly cost a lot less than that for AZ.
Hamburg?
You know something we dont know?
this type of transaction is what teams like AZ do — it is their business model. They don”t need (and are not interested in) Juergen Klinsmann managing their players for them, and if Ernie Stewart weren”t making such deals regularly, he wouldn”t keep his job.
FYI, at the US vs. Holland game a few months ago, the camera caught Ernie Stewart in the stands taking on the proceedings. Ernie has 85 US caps. Yes, of course that’s what he does, but I can’t believe he doesn’t keep in touch with US soccer, specifically with Klinsmann, about US national team players who play for him or may play for him in the future.
Klinsmann was confused. I realized after I posted this and went on to another article what a stupid mistake I made, but had to go somewhere else. I have relatives from the Hamburg area, maybe that’s why it was on my mind.
This is good for Aron and good for American fans since the Bundesliga will be on Fox Sports this season. We’ll finally be able to see him play at the club level (without going to great lengths to stream games).
We’ll see how it works out. Many have tried to move to Germany, few have succeeded. If the move results in Aron riding Mr. Pine Bench all the time then the move is no good for him.
I will also be interested to see if that happens, will JK punish him by exercising the “not playing for his club clause” when it comes to future NAT callups. The one he uses when he doesnt want to call a player but ignores when he does want to call a player.
I wish Aron good luck but and very skeptical about players going to Germany. Aron is a bit on the frail side and players there run big.
PLUS Herr Klinsmann can always translate and resolve any Deutsche Fussball conflicts Aron may run into at Bremen. So, Klinsi can help US soccer development on both sides of the Atlantic pond!!
How about JK focuses on roster selection and tactics for the USMNT? Seems like that’s more than enough for him to handle at the moment.
JA SLA, you are correct about the JK roster selection which needs some definite improvement! But tactically, the USMNT has improved significantly under him. Otherwise, the US needs him to handle all kinds of issues simultaneously because he has very good soccer knowledge, experience & capability.
I like him as technical director but not as coach. He has good “big picture” ideas about how to improve US Soccer.
As technical director Klinsmann is responsible for player development. Look at the arc of Johannsson’s career. JK recruited him while he was still playing in Denmark. Then AJ got a transfer and promotion to AZ, where the GM is former US international Ernie Stewart. Now he is going up to the Bujndesliga where I’m sure JK still has numerous contacts. It seems very likely that JK has had a hand in some of these moves by AJ. Similarly, it probably wasn’t just a coincidence that JK called in Bobby Wood to play against Holland and Germany and then gave him a chance to play, out of which Wood got a contract when he was jobless. This is why I find the charges that JK doesn’t have the US locker room behind him hard to believe when he has been instrumental in the advancement of the careers of many US players. As regards this move by AJ, I wonder who Ernie Stewart will bring in to replace AJ. Will it be another American?
I’m always biased towards leagues that are available on TV in the states. Tear it up Iceman.
Perfect timing for us here in the States. Bundesliga now airing on Fox means more of us get to see him play.
If he sees the field
And IF Fox gets this thing worked out. Still some major hurtles to be cleared there.
He definitely will. Bremen play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 with the diamond formation. They brought in a winger/forward and a forward, but lost their 2 forwards who leading scorers last year with 13 and 9 goals.
We’ll see. Donovan couldn’t make it there. Neither could Parkhurst or Twellman and two of those three played the same position as Iceman and were better than he is now.
I think there may be an attitude there that makes it hard for Americans to get anywhere… even if they’re from Iceland
He will see the field, hes expected to be a starter. Werder lost Di Santo to Schalke and needs another starting striker, they dont have 5 million dollars to spend on the bench
I do believe that there are more US internationals playing in the Bundesliga than any other European league. Can;t wait, let the games begin!
Finally, a Yank goes to real league again! Was worried he might quit trying to better himself and instead come to MLS for easy money
Yawn. Tiresome troll is tiresome. No doubt if he could’ve earned more in MLS he’d be here. Playing soccer is a job for professional players. People often (conveniently) forget that fact and argue that players should forgo tons of money so that they can keep playing in Europe and make US soccer fans with inferiority complexes feel better about themselves.
Speaking of trolls, don’t be so quick to judge. It has nothing to do with insecurities or trolling, some of us think that taking the money to play for MLS ends up being detrimental for the USNT. Nothing more.You don’t have to agree, but you could try to be more tolerant and open minded of others’ views. Life is better that way.
I can understand that view but think it’s kind of silly when, for example, people were seriously saying Bradley should stay at Roma and turn down a 6x salary increase.
It’s just an immature viewpoint based on nothing more than the idea the Europe is always better 100% of the time no matter what. Sure, Roma are better than any MLS side but $6m is a lot better than $1m especially in a job where careers are relatively short.
And to clarify, simply expressing Martha’s viewpoint isn’t trolling but bashing MLS even when it’s irrelevant is trolling and it’s also something “Martha” does with great gusto.
This is the same euro-troll that posts under different names. Warning: Don’t Feed
Bradley’s move to MLS made sense financially, but from a competitive standpoint Italian league is better than MLS.
I have no qualms of players going for the money when there is a significant increase (e.g 2 million to 5 million), but 5 million to 5.25 is not a big deal. This is a job with a limited lifespan and VERY high risk of career ending injury. Make as much money as you can while you are physically able because no gives a crap about you when you are done with limited transferable skills.
I will not hold it against any player who comes back to MLS for the money, but I cannot stand when people try to argue that the level of play is remotely the same as the big 5 leagues. Just say it was for the money and comfortable environment. I have been watching MLS since ’96 and know 1 guy from my college team who played (granted 1 season) and another friend of a friend who played 2/3 seasons. Those guys are very talented. I am a fan, but I am not blind. That being said, no US player should be going to Scandinavia or Scotland.
…and this is from my selfish perspective. I want USMNT players regularly playing against and with the best competition possible because I think it can only help the USMNT. I understand their monetary needs, but I suppose I look at things from a USMNT perspective.
Ha, there are a lot of considerations, just like any job transfer. If you have kids, what are the schools like where you are going? Would you rather live in Columbus or LA?(I have read that Beckham got a thrill out of rubbing elbows with movie stars) If you live in Florida or Texas instead of California, you avoid a state tax of up to 11% (California) And then there is endorsement money. If you’re not a huge star who can do commercials for national firms, maybe you can do local gigs for car dealerships and the like. Athletes can pick up extra money that way and I’m sure that you get paid more for a big market than a small one than, say, Portland. I imagine those considerations are things that a good agent researches for his client
Positive move for him to a more competitive league. May take a bit of time for him to settle in, but the strength of the defenses he’ll face should improve his game. And since Fox has picked up the coverage will be able to see his games more often.
Competitive? It is Bayern and then everybody else. Get used to losing Aron
That doesn’t mean the league as a whole isn’t competitive. Shalke, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen are all teams that would give Man United a run for their money.
watch the league and youll see that its highly competitive, Scheiss Bayern are always contenders but there are a ton of other teams that challenge regularly.
Awesome, my favorite team.
Long ago now are the days when Mertesacker, Ozil, Diego, Almeida, Klose, Frings, Borowski, Naldo, Marin roamed the field but still, great move.
And Bremen is a beautiful city, too. Eine schöne Stadt.
And provided he doesn’t get injured a lot.
If he can stay healthy and see the field, he’ll be up against fast, physical and technical defenders pretty consistently, which will be fantastic for his development.
This is a good transfer for him. He’ll seriously benefit, provided he works hard and gets PT.
He will have to compete for playing time, but that is a given in Europe. It is a promising transfer to a very good league.
This looks like the end of another promising career.
Well Aron we will see you in three years time when you’re playing in MLS, after a failed loan or two.
RIP Johanny Futbol’s career, you will be missed.
no, no he wont. Hes a replacement for Di Santo and provided he shows whats expected he should be starting regularly.
People are quick to equate this to the Jozy situation, Werder are no where near as crap as Sunderland. They are quick creative and offensive traditionally and especially so under Skripnik. Jozy went to Hull and Sunderland, two teams that anyone would struggle to play under. Werder arent going to win the Bundesliga this year but i have my doubts they will have issues scoring goals