By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
If you haven’t heard of Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson before, you won’t be the only one.
If I’m honest, I didn’t have a scooby who the Icelandic midfielder was before ExWHUEmployee Patreon named him as a West Ham player of interest yesterday.
Who Is Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson?
The 23-year-old midfielder currently plays in Germany for FC Köln and is a regular for the Iceland national team. This becomes particularly interesting because the Bundesliga side are currently eyeing up Hammers midfielder Edson Álvarez.
Jóhannesson is an intriguing target because even though he plays his international football for Iceland, he was actually born in Sutton Coldfield, England. His dad, Joey Guðjónsson, was playing in the Premier League for Aston Villa at the time, which is how Ísak ended up being born on English soil before the family moved back to Iceland.
Because of that UK connection and his talent in midfield, English clubs had supposedly been watching him closely for years, according to some reports.
Not A New Name To West Ham
West Ham were believed to have shown serious interest in signing him back in the David Moyes days when he was first breaking through, alongside a few other Premier League sides.
He ended up moving to Germany instead to learn his trade, but with his style of play and his English roots, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise to see him turn up in England again.
That said, he is just one of an increasing number of midfielders being linked with the job of replacing Mateus Fernandes.