Hibs have revealed that young American defender Emmanuel Johnson has been recalled from his loan spell.
The 19-year-old former Barca kid, has been on loan at the Hibees USL partners Charleston Battery, but is returning to Scotland after he was granted a UK work permit.
Johnson is the first player from Easter Road to head to Patriots Points since the two club's entered an agreement in late 2020.
He played 14 times and scored 1 goal.
Johnson will now join the Hibees new-look development side for the up-coming Scottish season.
Speaking to the official club website, Hibs academy boss Steve Kean said:
"After his loan move to Charleston Battery, EJ will come back to us an even better player and be able to hit the ground running this season.
“He’s a real athlete and has very high technical skills. His pace, power and ability on the ball made him stand-out, and we want to take him to the next level.
“He will be a massive addition to our Development Squad and the game’s programme will allow him to progress further.
“This also shows how beneficial our partnership with Charleston Battery is as it provided EJ with an opportunity to play regularly and allowed us to get his work permit approved. We look forward to welcoming him to Edinburgh and being a big part of the Club moving forward.”
HIBS-MAD VIEW:
It's good to see the link-up with our friends at Charleston Battery finally bearing some fruit.
"AJ" will have benifitted massively from his spell getting first team professional football, and it's also helped him secure a UK work permit.
The new look Development side will be a good place for him to get used to Scotland and Scottish footy.
The development side have brought in some good players, add to that some of the U19 side that won the league title last season, and there is an exciting bunch of players ready to be slowly built up and introduced to the first-team.
Let's also hope it's the start of a few more of our kids heading over to the States to get first team football at a higher level than U19 football.
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