John Mellberg

Football runs in the family for John Mellberg: his father, Olof Mellberg, was a Swedish international defender who played for Aston Villa in Birmingham, the city where John was born. He moved to Sweden as a boy and joined the youth academy of IF Brommapojkarna in Stockholm, a club where his father later worked as a coach. He came through the Brommapojkarna ranks from 2015 and was promoted to the senior squad in 2023, though he did not make a league appearance before his move abroad.

That same year, Mellberg joined Red Bull Salzburg, who immediately sent him out on loan to their partner club FC Liefering in the Austrian 2. Liga. He spent two seasons there, making 27 appearances as he adjusted to senior football in Austria. He has since made five appearances for Salzburg's first team and, in November 2025, signed a contract extension with the club until 2029.

A left-footed centre-back, Mellberg was part of the Salzburg squad that won the Austrian Bundesliga in the 2022/23 season, though Sturm Graz have since taken over at the top, finishing above Salzburg in the following two campaigns. Salzburg also reached the Austrian Cup final in 2023/24, losing to Sturm Graz.

Mellberg has represented Sweden at every youth level from under-17 upwards. He was capped three times for the under-17s between October 2022 and August 2023, three times for the under-19s in the autumn of 2024, and twice for the under-21s during 2025.