Call-ups, Covid, career threats and a doting dad: The story of Rotherham United's Viktor Johansson

No rival has made more saves with the Rotherham United custodian's save percentage and average number of saves per game also up there with the very best.

What sets very good and excellent goalkeepers apart is something less quantifiable. Mentality.

It is here where the 24-year-old - recently handed his maiden call-up to Sweden's senior squad - truly excels.

A good judge of character, ex-Millers manager Paul Warne knew pretty quickly that Johansson was made of the right stuff when he came over for a two-week trial when Covid restrictions started to be lifted in the summer of 2020.

The free agent earned a two-year deal and it represented one of the best pieces of business that the club have done in recent times.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Johansson, who spent previous spells in England at Aston Villa and Leicester City, recalled: "I went there for two weeks and didn't have any clothes with me and had to wash them in the sink as everything was shut and I couldn't really do anything.

"It was the toughest two weeks as I went there and then had to be in quarantine for ten days. I just sat in the room and didn't know if I was going to be offered a contract.

"Things start playing on your mind. (Ex-goalkeeping coach) Andy Warrington came to see me at the hotel...They offered me a contract and the rest is history."

Johansson's history makes his achievements all the more remarkable. It is why there will be immense pride among his family back home at his call-up.

The footballing dreams of Johansson, whose father Tobias was a lower-division keeper in Sweden, were in jeopardy when a serious back problem was diagnosed when he joined Villa's set-up from Hammarby in 2014.

It put him out of the game for over a year following major surgery.

Johansson, whose sunny disposition belies what he has had to contend with, continued: "They found stress fractures in my back. I think I was 16 at the time.

"I saw three or four different specialists and they said I had to stop playing football at this level and had to drop down.

"It was never really an option for me, so I found this 'crazy' Swedish surgeon in Hamburg and he said take the risk and do it.

"They did it and ever since, I have never looked back really. It was 14 months of rehabilitation.

"Since then, I was just happy to be on the pitch and realised what I have got and the chance to play football for a living. It helped me loads."

A supportive family has played their part in the story of Johansson, busy preparing for the Millers’ home game with West Brom on Good Friday.

Like most goalkeepers, he also professes to being a little 'crazy' which helps. He is also a chip off the old block, as the saying goes.

Johansson, who hails from the Stockholm suburb of Huddinge, said: "My father was a lower-league keeper in Sweden and I was there for every session and I loved to see him train. He was a big inspiration for me and he has always been my hero since I was a kid.

"He sees himself in me. He had the abilities to be a really good goalkeeper, but he had kids quite early. He chose a different path and dropped down the divisions and played.

"He is living his dream with me, which is nice.

"I was crazy as a kid. I played handball and something called floorball and football at the same time.

"Once I'd finished floorball practice, I'd come to play football 20 minutes later. It was mental when I was a kid, I was everywhere.

"If my dad said something, I'd do it. But he has never been pushing me or (have) my family in general.

"They stopped taking me to practice and said take the train or bus because they wanted me to push for it and not them pushing for it.

"They also took me out for a spell to make sure I was driven and wanted to train. Without them, I'd have never been here today."

In Championship terms, the star of Johansson - who signed a new deal in January - is firmly in the ascendant as is that of his great friend in Coventry City's Viktor Gyokeres, who featured and scored for Sweden in the international break.

A framed picture of Gyokeres scoring a 90th-minute penalty past Johansson in a 2-2 draw in Coventry in the autumn was cheekily given as a Christmas present by the striker to his compatriot in December.

The keeper, capped by Sweden up to under-21 level, said: "It’s in my game room. I think it’s brilliant to be fair.

"I gave him a bit of stick when he didn't score two seasons ago, so it was coming. But I love him to bits and we try and see each other as much as we can. He's a really close friend of mine.”