WHEN U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM forward Aron Johannsson finalized his transfer from AZ Alkmaar to Werder Bremen he bucked a trend. Instead of dropping down to a lesser league, he moved up to one of Europe’s elite leagues.

Johannsson, 24, is now the only American forward playing first-team soccer in one of Europe’s five top leagues.

His move made headlines in the U.S. soccer community but it’s garnering far more attention in Germany. In his first few days in Bremen, large crowds assembled to welcome Johannsson to the team and watch him practice.

For a man who spent most of his childhood in tiny Iceland it was quite a new experience.  

“It was a little bit different than I am used to,” Johannsson told American Soccer Now with a chuckle after competing his first day of practice with Werder Bremen on Thursday. “But people here really like to come out and watch the trainings and check out the new guy on the team. Of course I’ve come here to make an impact as soon as possible. I am going to try my hardest to get into the team and into the starting XI as soon as possible.”

The attention surrounding Johannsson is understandable when you consider that he has enjoyed success at every step of his career. After impressing in the Danish Superliga with AGF Aarhus, Johannsson moved to AZ Alkmaar in 2013 and promptly scored 38 goals in 84 games. He left the Dutch club on a high note, scoring four goals in the final three games of the year—including a bicycle kick and a 35-yard rocket—that helped the club claim an unexpected Europa League spot.During the offseason, however, Johannsson felt the urge to leave AZ Alkmaar. He had signed a new four-year contract with Alkmaar just one year ago but he felt there was no challenge left for him in the Netherlands. In his three seasons there, Johannsson averaged one goal for every 138 minutes of Eredivisie or Dutch Cup play.

At Werder Bremen, Johannsson has found himself in a situation where the club needs him to contribute right away. Leading scorer Franco Di Santo, who tallied 13 times for Werder in 2014-15, left for Schalke in July. The club’s second-leading scorer last season, Davie Selke, recently left for RB Leipzig.

“I was hoping all summer that a move would be made and that someone would buy me,” Johannsson said. “AZ is a great club and I enjoyed my time there but I felt that the time was right for me to make a move to a top league. I knew for a while that Werder were interested in me and were following me. But when they sold [Di Santo] two weeks ago, things started to happen very quickly.”

By moving to the Bundesliga, widely regarded as one of the top two leagues in the world, Johannsson likely brought a smile to the face of U.S. men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The former Bundesliga star has repeatedly said that he wants his top players to push themselves to compete at the highest-possible level. Johannsson, who has found himself stuck behind MLS strikers Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore on the U.S. depth chart, could be primed to change the pecking order.

Dempsey is 32. Altidore is struggling. And Johannsson, it appears, is on the upswing.

“I talked to him after the move once everything was finished,” Johannsson said of his discussion with Klinsmann. “I called him and he just wished me congratulations. He was happy for me and felt that it was perfect timing as well to go to a better league and keep improving.”

Everybody on the U.S. national team will have to improve if the Americans hope to qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. The team’s poor showing in this summer’s Gold Cup means that an October 9 showdown with Mexico at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., will determine which country represents CONCACAF at the pre-World Cup tournament.

“It’s hard for me to sit here and say to you what we have to fix but everything in our whole game has to be better,” Johannsson said of the national team. “We wanted to win the Gold Cup and we had a team to win it. Now we just have to sit down and focus on the game against Mexico. It is now the most important game of the year for U.S. Soccer.

“Of course we’re a little down,” he added. “We wanted to win the tournament and we finished in fourth place. That’s nothing to be proud of and it’s not good enough—especially with the players we have on our team. But we know we can beat Mexico. It’s a huge game.

“We just have to believe in that and I think everyone on the team believes in that.”

In the weeks leading up to Johannsson’s move to Werder Bremen, rumors surfaced that the striker was considering a move to MLS. His new four-year deal means that Johannsson is unlikely to compete in the North American top flight before he turns 28.

But he still intends to be an MLS player someday.

“It’s still the same,” Johannsson said. “My goal is to play in MLS at one point in my career. Football is a strange sport. I don’t know when but I think most definitely it will happen at one point in my career.”

Johannsson, whose bond with his birth nation continues to grow, is fully aware that his move to Germany coincides with the Bundesliga’s new TV deal with Fox, which will dramatically increase the league’s visibility in the United States.

“Of course, when you play in one of the biggest leagues, more people are going to be watching you,” he said. “It’s very exciting to me and I know that in America they are going to start showing more Bundesliga games on television. I think it is perfect that more people in America can watch me play every week.”

Given the dwindling number of American internationals playing first-team football in top European leagues, Johannsson relishes the opportunity to be a role model.

“I think it shows as well that if you do well for the national team and your club team, it is possible to play in the best leagues in the world like the Bundesliga,” Johannsson said. “I hope a young player in America sees me going there and wants to do the same thing and realizes it is possible for them.”

Werder Bremen opens its season on Saturday with a DFB Cup matchup against 3.Liga club Würzburger Kickers. Werder’s Bundesliga campaign kicks off on August 15 at home against Schalke.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.