IT LOOKS LIKE Ireland will win the race to secure the eligibility of 17-year-old Bayern Munich starlet Ryan Johansson.

Garry Doyle reports in The Times Ireland Edition that the teenage sensation, who made his first-team debut for the Bundesliga champions last week, has chosen to represent the Boys in Green and will be called into the U18 side next month.

Johansson was born in Luxembourg and has featured at underage level for Sweden, his father’s native country — but he also qualifies for Ireland through his Mullingar-born mother, Christine McCarthy.

Before being snapped up by Bayern, Johansson played youth football in France. He won the U17 Bundesliga with the German giants last season, and started at right-back in last week’s 2-0 friendly defeat against Juventus in Philadelphia.

He also came off the bench as a second-half sub in Bayern’s 3-2 defeat against Manchester City in Miami on Sunday.

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