Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards can't wait to see Sverre Nypan in action for his side after securing a season-long loan for the attacking star from Manchester City.
The 18-year-old completed a temporary move to Teesside earlier this week and will be in the squad for Saturday's Championship clash with Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Edwards won't rush the youngster into action, and is aware that he will have to be careful with some of his tender years, but is excited by what he can bring to Boro's promotion push.
“We’re really excited to have Sverre at the football club," he said. "He’s a really talented player, and we’re thankful to Manchester City, and Sverre and his team, for trusting us with the next step of his development.
"He’s a talented footballer, and he slots nicely into the group, up against a lot of competition. He’s someone who I think can make a big impact this season.
“He’s coming from one of the biggest football clubs in the world. They’ve obviously made a sizeable investment in Sverre, so that adds a little bit of pressure for him. He’s got to be able to handle that, but he’s a young guy and I want to try to relieve a bit of that if I can. I know there’ll be excitement around him, and rightly so because he’s a very talented player.
"But he’s also 18 years old and we need to make sure we manage that as well. He’ll get minutes here, and then let’s see how he goes. But we’re all excited.
“He’s an attacking midfield player, and he’s really good at receiving the ball in those spaces between units, those little pockets and half-pockets. He’s good at driving with the ball, and he’s a creator.
"We want him to be able to create for us, but for him to do that, we need to be good at getting him the ball in the right spaces and areas. We try to have a structure in how we play, but there’s an element of freedom in that as well. He’s intelligent enough to be able to find good spaces and make things happen.
"Again, he’s a young player, so we don’t want to heap too much pressure on him, but he’s someone we think can help us score and create. He’s involved in the squad. He’ll be travelling, so we’ll see."
Nypan wasn't the only signing this past week, with Adilson Malanda agreeing a move to Teesside. The French defender will stay on loan at Charlotte FC until January, but is another player Edwards is looking forward to working with.
“He’s Malanda another one where the recruitment team have been working hard for a long time," he said of Malanda. "It’s a big pat on the back to those guys because a lot of hard work has gone in there.
"It’s an exciting signing for the club because he’s a really good player. He’s someone we’ve got very high hopes for, and I’m looking forward to having him in, in January.
“We’ve got a lot of trust and faith in the guys we’ve got here at the moment. When he does arrive, I think he’ll bring brilliant strength to an already strong department.
"But the lads that are here now are performing really well. We’ve got another couple in there – George is obviously back and Darragh has trained in the last couple of days. We’re good in that department, but he’s a top player. It was right that he was able to finish the season off [in the US].
"We don’t fully know when his season will end because of the play-off situation, but we know when he’ll be available for us, which is January.”