Former Nimba Football Club forward, Sam Johnson, is rumored to be making a move back to Sweden in the ongoing winter transfer window.
Johnson, who saw his contract terminated by Chinese League One club Wuhan Zall, is the target of many Swedish clubs ahead of the 2018 Swedish Allsvenskan, which is expected to begin in April.
Thirteen-time Allsvenskan champion, IFK Goteborg, is leading the race to bring back the Liberian to the top Swedish league. According to Swedish online media outlet, Expressen, Goteborg has been after the Liberian for a long time and wants to make use of the current opportunity to land him.
The Swedish league is familiar ground to Johnson, who played for Djurgardens IF before moving to China. The former IK Frej attacker scored 17 goals in 41 appearances for Djurgardens before his big money move to Wuhan Zall.
Johnson made a surprising move in July 2016 to China League One club, Wuhan Zall. At that time, he had been sought after by top European clubs including Lokomotiv Moscow, CSKA Moscow, and Sevilla. He signed a three-and-half-year deal with the Chinese side and became one of the highest paid Liberian footballer.
Life in China began on a beautiful note as Johnson scored six goals in eleven appearances to help Wuhan move off the bottom of the league table to a fifth-place finish.
Despite a brilliant start in China, the Liberian winger went out of favor at the club after the sacking of Italian coach, Ciro Ferrara. Johnson’s second season with the Chinese club was full of disappointments as he fell back in the pecking order under Chinese coach, Tang Yaodong.
Despite not being played regularly under Tang Yaodong, who was later sacked and replaced by Chen Yang, Johnson did manage to score six times from 15 appearances.
Johnson continued to slide down as he was relegated to the club’s reserve side after Wuhan Zall signed the Brazilian-born Croatian international, Jorge Sammir. By the end of the season, the Liberian mutually terminated his contract with Wuhan Zall and became a free agent. He left the club with 12 goals from 26 appearances.
Sammir’s signing proved to one of the club’s worst decision as the Croatian failed to perform to expectations. Unlike Johnson, who scored six times in his first eleven appearances, Sammir managed to score just two times in 13 appearances.
Featured photo courtesy of Johanna Lundberg
