Just a week ago he was scoring in the UEFA Youth League semi-final, and now he has started and kept a clean sheet in a big win against league leaders Austria Vienna – John Olof Mellberg, to give his full name, has had a spring to remember. He deputised superbly for the suspended Samson Baidoo on Sunday.

I am very proud to have played my part in this important win and even keep a clean sheet. It felt great to appear again here after a long time.

John Mellberg

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At the start of the season, John made starts in both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League - albeit in the unusual position for him as left-back. The fact the 1.90-metre 18-year-old is stronger in the centre was shown by his composed performance against Austria Vienna, in which the Swede's superb tackling ability and a few key sliding tackles shone. In the fan vote for Player of the Match, John even received over 50% of the votes!

Thomas Letsch cited the fact John has been able to gain plenty of match practice both in the ADMIRAL 2 Liga (15 appearances this season) as well as for our Young Bulls, as the reason he was called into central defence against Austria.

"He is in full rhythm, he has shown that in training already. He has the advantage compared to the others in the team that when he has not been in action for us, he has gained playing time in the Youth League or at FC Liefering. That paid off. He was right at it from the start. It felt like he won every aerial battle, and he was good in our build-up play. He did superbly."

Thomas Letsch

Olof Mellberg, does that ring a bell? It almost certainly does if you have followed football for a while. Olof, John's father, played for Aston Villa and Juventus among others, and is now head coach of the MLS's St. Louis City. The 47-year-old was known himself for his robust defending, and plenty appears to have rubbed off on his son - most notably his passion for football! Olof said once in an interview: "I have never forced him in any way, he is just obsessed by football. His very first words were ball, Villa and Nike."

2008 ➡️ 2024

What a journey, and what a moment for John Mellberg as he makes his debut for us ❤️#RBSBWL 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/K75arHRcof
— FC Red Bull Salzburg EN (@FCRBS_en) August 10, 2024

The successful showing against Austria must increase the chances of John continuing his determined development and one day following his father into the Swedish national team. Only Thomas Letsch would know just how much we are likely to see of the talent, who has been with us since 2023 in Salzburg, in the near future and whether he will feature in the squad against Sturm Graz, when Samson Baidoo returns from suspension. One thing for sure is that his patience and #LigaZwa playing practice has already paid off!

This is John Mellberg