Queens Park Rangers have today completed the signing of Danish forward Marco Ramkilde.
The 21-year-old joins on a free after being released by Aalborg last summer.
He was a product of the club's youth academy and first burst onto the scene in his native Denmark back in the 2015/16 campaign. But going into his first, full season with the club in 2016/17, he suffered huge injury set-backs, and wouldn't appear for the club again.
It led to his release by AaB last summer, and having been on trial with QPR since last month, he's today signed an initial 18-month contract.
Ramkilde has represented Denmark at international level, from U16s to U19s, and will link-up with QPR's development squad at first.
Speaking to www.qpr.co.uk about his move, Ramkilde said:
“On the first day of my trial at QPR, it felt like the perfect match. I know this is a club with a lot of history and it is a great opportunity for me."
QPR have placed a lot of emphasis on their youth production system in the past few seasons, and have seen the likes of Ebere Eze, Bright Osayi-Samuel and more breakthrough into the first-team, and show a lot of promise.
Ramkilde could well be another addition to the club's growing list of exciting, young players. It's a gamble by the club though - a player with such injury history as Ramkilde, and at only 21 - he could well suffer in the long-term.
But the Dane remains in good spirits, and believes he can make a name for himself in West London:
"I am quite quick when you consider my height and I like to think that I am good tactically and work well under pressure. I’m a good finisher with my feet and head and hopefully I can score some goals for QPR.”
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The verdict
This is a signing that should really excite fans. Look at Teemu Pukki with Norwich City - an unknown striker released by his club, yes he had much more experience than Ramkilde does, but it's a singing of the same magnitude.
Mark Warburton as well is the ideal man to get the most out of young players and with Jordan Hugill off in the summer, Ramkilde could be involved sooner than he thinks.