Town boss Mick McCarthy says he’s delighted to have added Danish international left-back and long throw expert Jonas Knudsen to his squad and paid tribute to the role his backroom staff including assistant Terry Connor played in his recruitment.
The 22-year-old joined the Blues on a three-year deal with an option for a further season on Friday from his hometown club Esbjerg fB and played the second half of today's 1-1 pre-season friendly draw with FC Utrecht.
"Delighted,” McCarthy said. "He looks a really good player, he’s a good size, he can defend, he can handle the ball, he can handle the ball with his hands as well because he’s got a great long throw which is a real weapon! I’m really pleased with him."
The Town boss outlined how the deal came about: "We were alerted to him, we knew he had a buy-out clause in his contract. Great by the lads, [director of football] Dave Bowman, [head of performance analysis] Jordan Miles and TC.
"They looked at him on the Internet and said to me, ‘Gaffer, there’s this left-back, he’s a Danish U21 international, he’s been in the tournament in the summer, he’s had a couple of [full] caps’.
"So I looked him then and quite clearly he was worth looking at, so TC went to see him [in action in Denmark] and then we were both going back to see him the weekend before last, I think.
"But we couldn’t because there was only one flight. So I said to TC, ‘There’s no point having each of us seeing him once, go back and see him and see if you see what we all saw on the DVDs or on the Wyscout system’.
"And he did, and it was a much better game. He wasn’t convinced after the first game. I said ‘If you go and see him and you tell me he’s everything we think he is and you’re happy with him, we’ll do it.
"And we did. Fair play, [owner] Marcus [Evans] has cracked on and got it done. We’ve had a bit of success with left-backs, let’s hope we’ve got another one!”
The fee is understood to be €500,000 (£350,000), the largest McCarthy has paid since taking over at Town.
"By a good stretch!” he laughed. "I think it’s just getting the right ones. That still remains the same. Everybody thinks we’ve got that £8 million and we’re just going to throw that [about].
"We’re not, that’s just not going to happen. If we’re selective, and based on what I’ve seen today, that’s being selective and that’s a good one.
"Brett Pitman certainly looks a good one. We know Ryan Fraser, I think people probably knew him more, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles is worth every single penny of what we paid to Arsenal to loan him.”
Photo: ITFC