We all know that Arsenal have a keen eye for a young foreigner or two which might explain why they are constantly linked with every prodigious talent that comes through across the continent, but on this occasion the interest appears to be concrete.
The player in question is 21-year-old Icelandic striker Aron Johannsson currently playing for AGF Aarhus in Denmark, so who is he?
1. Aron was not born in his native Iceland, but rather the city of Mobile, Alabama in the USA where his parents were studying at college.
2. Despite moving back to Iceland at the age of three, Aron attended the IMG Academy in the US as a teenager joining alumni such as Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, Eric Lichaj and joins the list of foreign attendees such as Jari Litmanen and Hidetoshi Nakata.
3. Upon his return to Iceland he played for Reykjavik based Fjolnir in both Iceland’s first and second tier’s.
4. After impressing for Fjolnir he was approached by several foreign clubs but chose Danish side AGF Aarhus, who at that point were playing in Denmark’s second division.
5. After initially struggling to break into the first team Aron eventually usurped others to become one of AGF’s starting strikers late in last season.
6. This season has been an unprecedented success for Aron, scoring 11 goals in 13 appearances so far this campaign.
8. Despite his infamy at club level he has yet to represent Iceland at full-international level, so far only representing their under-21 outfit on 10 occasions scoring once.
9. He is currently struggling to shift Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, Wolves frontman Bjorn Sigurdarson and Alfred Finnbogason of Heerenveen from the Iceland squad; but could be in line for a call-up for their next fixture with Ukraine later this month.
10. He gained notoriety after setting an incredible record earlier in the season, scoring Denmark’s fastest ever hat-trick. In just 3mins and 50secs Aron grabbed his hat trick against AC Horsens and even added a fourth goal not long after to secure a 4-1 victory for his side.
You can see the record breaking hat-trick in real-time below…
What do you make of Aron Johannsson? Is he a typical Wenger signing?
image: © biologyfishman
Mathew Nash
@hitcmathewnashGoogle+more stories from Mathew Nash
I’m Mathew Nash a 23 year old graduate in Sports Studies and I have an insatiable love for sport. With a particularly keen interest for the madcap world of football I have always been known amongst friends as a beacon for bizarre sporting trivia and knowledge. My other passion is for writing and hopefully combining the two will create a superb and entertaining marriage that will create, divide and share opinion.
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