Albion new boy Jonas Olsson wants to emulate heroes Tony Adams and Olof Mellberg by becoming a hit in England.
The 25-year-old centre-back, who signed for the Baggies at the weekend, says he wants to follow in the footsteps of Swedish countryman Mellberg, formerly of Villa, and ex-England captain Adams.
“Tony Adams is a player I watched a lot growing up, but I supported Manchester United,” said Olsson, who joined from NEC Nijmegen for £800,000. “And Olof has had a great career. He was captain at Villa and of his country and is a massive player I can learn a lot from him.”
Olsson wants to use his move to the Premier League to follow Mellberg into the international ranks. “I made 20 caps for Sweden under-21s and the dream for any player is to play for at senior level for your country,” he said.
“Hopefully I can impress and the Premier League is the place to do it. I had three seasons in the Eredivisie and that league is all about focusing on development. Every team is keen on trying to play football and trying to play yourself out of difficult positions.
“It’s good preparation for the Premier League. But competition for places is strong here and I’m going to do my best to earn my place in the team.”
Olsson signed on Saturday in a deal that could eventually cost Albion £1.16m, and he says he has been impressed with the club and the vision of manager Tony Mowbray.
“I came here last Friday and had a look at the stadium and the training facilities and I arrived again on Monday so I haven’t really seen a lot of Birmingham,” he said.
“The facilities are very nice. It is bigger than my last club. “I had a quick chat with the manager on Friday and he told me a little bit about his footballing philosophy and I really got a good impression.”
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