Johansson signs deal to join Hibs in January

Published on Thursday 13 November 2008 21:11

JONATAN Johansson, the former Rangers forward, will join Hibernian in January after signing a pre-contract agreement.

Johansson, 33, currently with Malmo in Sweden, has been a regular goalscorer throughout his career and will fortify an aspect of Hibs' play which many already regard as their strongest suit thanks to the efforts of Derek Riordan, Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher.

The experienced Finn, who scored 24 goals in 37 first-team starts with Rangers before joining Charlton for a fee of 3.35million eight years ago, said he was looking forward to a second spell in Scottish football.

"I'm looking forward to the new challenge and to be working with Mixu Paatelainen again," said Johansson. "I recently visited the (club's] training centre and was blown away, it really is a fantastic facility. I look forward to training there to get up to speed on my match fitness."

With 91 appearances for his country, it is little wonder Johansson is held in such high regard by Paatelainen, who enthused: "I'm confident that Hibernian supporters will quickly appreciate that we have obtained an experienced international striker who has scored goals wherever he has played."

If Johansson performs to the same standard as he did at Malmo, where he scored 20 goals in 46 appearances, as well as during his first season in the Premiership, when he scored 14 times for Charlton, then Hibs will feel they have made a shrewd acquisition.