Sligo Rovers have added some firepower to their squad ahead of the resumption of the SSE Airtricity Premier Division season.
They’ve signed Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe from Israeli Premier League club Hapoel Hadera until the end of the season.
The striker scored 14 times for Derry City in the Premier Division last year while on loan from Colchester United.
Junior's move back to the League of Ireland is subject to the granting of a work permit and international clearance.
He'll link up with his team-mates after two-week quarantine period, meaning he'll miss Friday-week's game against his former side.
Sligo manager Liam Buckley is chuffed to have secured a player of Junior's pedigree, "It’s a very good signing for us I feel, we’re looking for Junior to come in and hit the ground running as soon as he’s eligible to be involved.
"We have some good options in the forward area, Junior can play across the front three and he scored some very good goals last season. I remember in particular he did well against us, so we’re very aware of his talent.
“We know he can be a very good player in this league and we want him to have the same impact here that he had with Derry City.
“The Israeli League is a good standard and I think he would have showed his ability there if COVID-19 hadn’t changed the landscape.
"It is to our benefit that he wanted to come back to these shores so I’m delighted he is a Sligo Rovers player now."
Buckley will hope Junior's arrival signals a change in the club's fortunes.
Before coronavirus ground the league to a halt in March, the Bit-O-Red had lost each of their four opening games of the season. Three of those had been to nil.
Buckley told SligoRovers.com that Junior may not be their last signing, adding that they are "still in the market".
For his part, Junior can't wait to get started in the north-west, "It has been a frustrating year for me. I left Israel when the league was stopped due to COVID-19 and I just wanted to be closer to home.
"When the offer came in to be back in the League of Ireland, it appealed to me.
"I remember Sligo were tough opponents. My time at Derry was great, getting to Europe and there is good football played in Ireland.
"This spell I hope to get more goals and help Sligo get up the table for the next months. I’m very keen to be back on the pitch as soon as possible."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
